Tea for Two!
by Mazzyandcookies
Summary: Things get a lot more interesting on St. Gloriana Girls High School's ship after Kay and Darjeeling go on a date - both for Darjeeling and Assam (unfortunately for the latter). Featuring loosely linked story lines, made complete with friendship, a bit of romance and angst, and maybe even some funny parts. Rated T because I want to future-proof myself. [Cover art: kapatarosu]
1. Chapter 1

**Darjeeling goes on a date**

 _What started out as a one-shot present for a friend has now gone completely out of control. I won't claim that this is accurate to the Girls und Panzer canon or Japanese culture, for reasons that will probably be obvious as you keep reading. This is also my first work in this genre, so don't expect anything fancy._

Darjeeling hadn't expected the ruckus to be so loud, so here she was, picking out her clothes in her bedroom instead of the main room. Assam and Orange Pekoe were playing that bloody tank game again, and as expected, Assam was uncharacteristically pounding her fist on the table with anger, shaking the laptop that had a smoking tank displayed on its screen. Next to her was a worried Orange Pekoe, armed with a similar laptop. She would have asked for the girls' input on her clothing choice, but they were too engrossed in their game to care. None of them had even bothered to ask why she had picked up her clothing and disappeared into the bedroom. If she was inviting them into her dorm, then she wouldn't expect them to cause so much noise…

"Assam, there's no need for that!" Orange Pekoe cried, attempting to pacify the livid girl. Assam was normally such a calm and sweet girl, but this game threw her into episodes of fiery rage.

"But that artillery!" Assam raged, swinging at the table again. She yelped a bit when she felt Orange Pekoe's cold hand close around her wrist, keeping her arm in mid-air, accompanied by a stern "that table looks like it cost a lot of money".

"Girls, will you please calm down?" Darjeeling asked from the other room, closing her fingers around the dial of a radio and twisting it, increasing the volume by a bit. BBC Radio 2, her favourite station. She stood up from the fluffy sky-blue bed, walking over to a pristine oak cupboard and clenching at the next row of coat hangers. It bothered her that she had never decided to buy any casual clothes – all she had were school uniforms and other similar clothing. Digging through the rack of identical clothes, she finally chose a white dress shirt with an emblem of a little shell on it. Fuelled by the music in the background, she folded the shirt over her forearm and neatly placed it on the bed.

As soon as the game ended and the platoon was sent back to their garage, Assam was immediately on the prowl. "Rukuriri, come join us!" Assam asked, positively seething. In an attempt to seem calm, she righted her position on the wooden chair instead of slumping on it, which was a clear sign of her aggravated nature.

Rukuriri's indifferent brown eyes flicked over to Assam, initiating a stare that would throw even the mightiest of warriors off her gaze. She leant back against the leather sofa, focusing her eyes on the black phone cradled in her hands. "I'm trying to watch _Doctor Who_ ," she mumbled annoyedly, to which Assam replied with a defeated frown. "I don't even like that game."

"Why don't you just watch it on the television?" Assam asked, extending her arm, and pointing her pale hand at the black flat screen television. It was situated next to a bookshelf full of Darjeeling's favourite books and the doorway into the kitchen, which Darjeeling was never allowed to cook in, based on her past experiences with cooking. She ate store-bought meals.

"We don't have BBC on the television," Rukuriri replied in a tone that implied it was obvious that that they couldn't get the British Broadcasting Channel in Japan. "I'm using BBC iPlayer with a VPN," she replied, her voice clouded by a mist of arrogance. As if they would know what a VPN is!

"Assam, do you want to try a different tank?" Orange Pekoe suggested. "It's clear that your expertise doesn't lie in heavy tanks, dare I say."

"But I'm a crew member of a Churchill…," whined the opposing girl, shaking her head.

At that time, the radio that the other girls could hear suddenly stopped, and Darjeeling emerged from the room, her arms crossed behind her arched back, which may have made her bosom stick out a bit too much. She was wearing a rather thin white dress shirt, which involuntarily exposed the whiteness of her bra beneath the shirt. She rubbed her hands together, deeming her appearance good enough. Accompanied by a hearty smile and a wave, she said, "Good afternoon, girls!"

Immediately, the three other girls' noses caught onto the stench of some particularly pungent perfume. The aroma specifically teased Assam's nose, whose blue eyes shifted onto Darjeeling in reaction. Her dress shirt had been buttoned up to the top, where it would normally be accompanied by a black tie, but she had not chosen to wear it for whatever reason. Her shirt was tucked into a black pleated skirt, coupled with some black tights and shoes. Her blonde hair was tied into a French braid that comfortably sat by her right side. She donned no noticeable make-up, save for some red lipstick, which looked as if it had taken hours to be perfected, right down to the last nanometre. Darjeeling always cared about her looks immensely.

"O-Oh!" Assam gasped dazedly, stunned by the appearance of her commander. She got up (despite the protests of Orange Pekoe, who didn't hesitate to inform her that they had loaded into a game), looking straight into Darjeeling's pretty eyes. "What's the occasion, Darjeeling?" she asked, trying her hardest not to look directly at her chest.

"I'm going on a date," spoke Darjeeling, straightening her back. Her incorrect posture was related to the pools of apprehensive sweat amassing in the palms of her hands, and she absentmindedly made a futile attempt to wipe the sweat on her skirt. She internally cringed and shunned herself for being so unladylike. She was _nervous_.

At that point, Assam's world (and heart) shattered into a few million pieces, which was evidenced in part by her face suddenly distorting into a number of elaborate, clearly painful contortions. Her eyes trailed downwards to her feet and then back to Darjeeling, who had a sweet, although puzzled expression on her face.

"Is there something wrong, Assam?" Darjeeling asked worriedly, watching her friend pull a vast array of faces. Her head tilted slightly, and her eyes darted down to meet the face of a silver watch, which gleamed brightly under the light of the room. She realised that she still had a few more minutes to go before it was required that she release herself into the cold world, and she felt her muscles relax. Why was she tensing them? She didn't even notice…

"N-No… everything's fine," replied the blonde-haired girl, whose expression implied her statement to be the absolute contrary. All sceptical eyes (except for Darjeeling's, as she had no suspicion what was happening) set on Assam, whose response was to frown and sheepishly sit back down at her laptop.

Darjeeling nodded, smiling at Assam, who desired nothing more than to sit in a cave, become a recluse and cry her eyes out until her body became deprived of water. "Well, I hope you enjoy your game! If everything goes well, then I will be platooning with you two later." With that, she turned away from the two girls sitting at the table and walked over to the door. She briefly turned her neck to look at Assam, who gazed back at her with a wobbly smile and forlorn eyes.

"Goodbye!" she called, inciting a wave from Orange Pekoe and Rukuriri (though, her wave was nothing more than a raise of the hand), but without a wave from Assam, her expression quickly darkened. She looked back to the door, opening it, and leaving.

Did she do something wrong?

"Assam! I got the Centurion Mk. I!" Orange Pekoe gleefully announced, looking at her partner, who looked like she had spent a day in Stalingrad. She was sliding off her chair, and had the appearance of a baby that had been slapped just a few times. "…Assam?" repeated Orange Pekoe, her lips curling into a frown.

"…Yes!" Assam nodded perhaps a few too many times in a futile attempt to hide her disappointment. Bringing up a shaky hand to rub one eye, she straightened up and assumed the correct sitting position, placing her hands on the table. "You've done very well, Orange Pekoe…" With a tired sigh, she said, "Let's keep playing."

"Of course!" Orange Pekoe nodded gleefully, her voice full of spirit. Assam looked like she wanted to die, but she still attempted a smile. Despite this, the way she looked at Orange Pekoe was something of a tired soldier, haunted by the horrors of war. Assam had initially been very excited to play when Orange Pekoe had asked her to play, and the enigmatic smile that she gave her was something Orange Pekoe had not seen in a long time.

Rukuriri looked up from her phone, casting a glance at Assam, who looked like a broken toy. "Better luck next time, Assam." She tapped her thumb on the phone, pausing the video. "If you want to stop playing, you can always watch _Doctor Who_ with me," she said with a smirk, shuffling in the seat slightly, crossing her legs, and patting the empty space on the sofa. She was looking at Orange Pekoe when she said that, but it was Assam who responded with a slow nod.

* * *

Darjeeling had not quite expected it to be so cold. Her arms were crossed, but that did little to protect her from the elements that threatened to make her go back inside of her dorm and awkwardly ask Assam for her scarf. So, she pressed on, cursing herself for not choosing to listen to Rosehip's words earlier in the day: "If you're going out, be sure to dress up warm!" Then, she left the dorm without a reason...

She was now exiting the large ship and was walking across the docks. She stopped to look for a particular ship stationed in the docks, and her eyes only widened and her lips parted into a little grin as she spotted it. She would definitely be there. Why wouldn't she be?

Her target was the traditional British tea shop – the only one she knew of. It was just a few blocks away from her location. She had left early, so she could take her time with walking to her destination.

Darjeeling hadn't had much experience with love, so she was really nervous. Uncontrollably shivering, she thought about what she was going to say. Should she have gotten flowers? Should she speak with the utmost eloquence or should she try and be as normal as possible? Was she even normal?

…Should she try and use any proverbs?

It was a good tea shop. Darjeeling went there all of the time with her crewmates; so much so that all of the staff referred to them by name. She assumed that her date was not a connoisseur of tea like she was, so she would have to guide her… yes, _her_. Darjeeling swung that way.

Good God, it was cold. Darjeeling was surprised that there wasn't any snow amassing on the ground. She continued to walk forwards, eventually coming up to the street that had the tea shop in it. It was fascinatingly picturesque, like it had been fetched straight off the streets of London – although, she had only seen pictures of London. Her lifelong dream was to go there with her crew and enjoy a holiday. She was even learning English for the occasion.

It was agreed that they would meet at the entrance of the tea shop, where they would then order some tea and a nice cake or something. But, when she arrived at the tea shop, walking in between rustic metal chairs and tables, she realised that nobody was there. She opened the door, hearing a familiar bell chime as the top of the door collided against it.

"Darjeeling!" spoke a young man behind the brown, shiny counter, who had a cloth draped over his hand, stuck in a clear glass. The man smiled at her, and she returned it. "Where's the rest of your crew?"

"They're back on the ship – I'm actually looking for somebody," replied the girl, scouting the inside of the tea shop for a certain somebody. Other than the chairs and tables, there was not much place to look. "She's not here," she murmured defeatedly, walking up to a chair, pulling it out and sitting down. Putting her elbows on the table, she looked out of the large window that was next to the door, watching the cars drive on the street.

 _She may just be a little bit late_ , thought Darjeeling. Her head turned upon hearing the bartender say, "So, do you want a cup of tea?"

"I'd love a _cuppa_ ," she stated, as per her British dialect protocol. She took out her purse, unbuttoning it and fetching a few coins. She got up and walked over to the counter, placing the coins on a table with a _clink_. "I would like the usual, please."

The man nodded wordlessly, understanding what a "cuppa" meant from Darjeeling's countless uses of the word.

As he began to create the tea, Darjeeling thanked him before sitting back down. She took out her phone, turned it on, and pressed on the messenger app with one finger. Why didn't they just meet at the docks? Wow, Darjeeling really was a bit of a ditz.

There weren't any messages from her. Darjeeling began to tap a message out, inquiring about her location, but before she sent the message, the little bell rung out like an angry mule had forcefully kicked it. Standing in the doorway was Kay, with a guilty grin on her face, caused mostly from Darjeeling's presence, but also from the bartender's disdainful look at her accidental attempt to kick the door off its hinges.

"I am _so_ sorry," exclaimed a very ashamed Kay, both to Darjeeling and the bartender. She walked over to the chair adjacent to Darjeeling's chair and sat down, focusing her light-blue eyes on hers. "Alisa delayed me. She… was trying to bend the rules again," she growled, her eyebrows furrowed.

Kay was wearing an unzipped American World War II tankers uniform, with a triangular patch on the shoulders. There was also a circled white star on the front of the jacket, situated on a pocket. Under the coat was a woolly black jumper. Immediately, Darjeeling felt envious of the girl, as she was still shivering, despite being inside a building. Kay looked warm as ever. She was also wearing some brown trousers and white sneakers. She carried a scent of expensive perfume.

"It's okay," replied Darjeeling, placing the phone down on the table. She looked at Kay and smiled. "I thought you were not coming!"

"Ahh, well, you know me," responded Kay, "I'm normally quite laidback about things. Though, I wouldn't miss this for the world." She smiled widely, which caused Darjeeling's cheeks to warm up a little bit and resulted in her looking down at the floor for a moment.

This was their first date. It had become increasingly clear to Darjeeling that her thoughts about Kay were not just those of a friend – and it finally clicked for her when she suddenly woke up in the middle of the night, and then realised she was dreaming about Kay. It was an interesting night, to say the least. This date was a result of a mishap at a party. It was much unlike Darjeeling to get so invested in a party, especially under the influence of alcohol, which had been Kay's fault. Unfortunately, there was no tea, so Kay had suggested an alternative…

She had abstained from alcohol since then, and the incident was never brought up again, but the two girls would be lying if they said they didn't enjoy what happened. "That's good to hear," she murmured once again, nerves creeping up her back like itchy vines. "Now, shall we discuss the tea situation?"

"Of course, Miss Darjeeling," replied Kay, speaking in a highly exaggerated and perhaps downright offensive British accent, to a sensitive Englander. "I'll be honest; I don't remember the last time I drank any tea. So, this should be an eye-opening experience for me, getting a lecture from a tea aficionado like yourself."

"I am not giving you a lecture. I will simply be suggesting some suitable teas that you may want to try," said Darjeeling, who felt the sides of her mouth involuntarily curl up into a subtle smile. Kay's choice of words was funny. She would rather call herself a "connoisseur" or an "appreciator" of tea, but "aficionado" worked too.

Just as she said that, the bartender arrived with a cup of tea, gently placing it down on Darjeeling's side of the table.

"Thank you," she said, focusing her eyes down on the cup placed in front of her. On the white, floral plate was the cup, a packet of sugar and a silver spoon. Regardless of Darjeeling's opinion towards sugary tea, the packet was still there. Contained in the white cup was a clear, orange liquid. Darjeeling took the opportunity to let the rich aroma of the tea soak into her nostrils, and with a satisfied sigh, she returned her gaze on Kay. "Such a sweet scent…"

"What're you drinking?" asked Kay, stretching forwards, sniffing the tea with a twitching nose.

"Well, as one might expect," replied Darjeeling, wrapping two fingers around the handle of the teacup, bringing it into her mouth and taking a subtle sip, "the tea I am drinking is my namesake."

"'Darjeeling?'" Kay spoke aloud. "Oh, of course! Because your name is tea."

"Indeed." Darjeeling gently placed the teacup on the plate, interlocking her hands on the table. "I will begin with the Indian Assam black tea, which is one of my personal favourites. Coincidentally, all of my crew love the tea that they were named after. Assam is well known for loving Assam tea, I am well known for loving Darjeeling tea, and so on." Darjeeling paused to pick up the cup and take a short sip from it.

It was then that Kay realised if she let Darjeeling continue talking about tea, she would be in there for at least five hours discussing it. She had to act fast, lest that Darjeeling began on a tangent. "I'd like to have what you're drinking, Darjeeling," she said with a hearty smile.

"Oh? Really?" Darjeeling asked. "Hm, you are a quick thinker! I can appreciate that." Darjeeling took some money out of her purse again and handed it to Kay. "Here you go. Go buy some tea."

"I have my own money, Darjeeling," responded Kay, shooing away the money, but Darjeeling insisted. "All right, fine," she muttered, taking Darjeeling's money and getting up. "Thank you."

"It is customary to be polite when one is on a date with somebody else." Darjeeling took another sip. "It is my pleasure."

Whilst Kay was occupying herself with buying some Darjeeling tea, Darjeeling could slowly feel herself begin to turn into ice. She continued to shiver, and she made a desperate attempt at keeping herself warm in the form of downing her tea. She cringed as the hot fluid went down her throat, singing its delicate walls and almost making her choke. Instantly, she felt the hotness flush down to her chest. It felt nice, but it did nothing to combat the coldness lingering around her.

"You look a bit frozen there," mentioned Kay as she sat down, noticing Darjeeling's shivering.

"It is a bit cold, yes," muttered Darjeeling, rubbing her hands together to create some warmth.

"I can fix that." With a subtle smirk and the screech of a chair skidding along the floor, Kay was next to Darjeeling, and without considering personal space or social barriers, she threw her jacket around her, making her feel a bit warmer, followed with her arms. Kay rested her shoulder on Darjeeling's shoulder, and the latter quickly felt both extremely comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. It felt so wrong, but so right at the same time.

"Kay…," Darjeeling murmured, looking to her right.

"Yes?"

"…Your tea," said the tea aficionado, alerting Kay of the bartender who was standing next to them, a cup of tea in his hands.

"Oh… sorry!" Kay spoke with a rope of embarrassed guilt constricting her voice, hastily taking the teacup and placing it down on the table. Her blue eyes focused on it and the steam rising out of it. "Looks delightful!" she said, taking herself off Darjeeling and reaching forwards to take a sip.

Darjeeling shuffled in her chair to adapt to Kay taking her weight off her, and took her own teacup.

"So, are you still cold?" Kay asked, her tongue immediately recoiling from the heat of the tea upon contacting it. She set it on the table with a yelp. "Well, if I ever was, I'm not now. Or at least, my tongue isn't…"

"Well, I was warmer when you-"

"Aww! Say no more, Darjeeling!" Kay interrupted, sending her arms around Darjeeling like rockets. Darjeeling's muscles tensed up and she initially recoiled, but they soon loosened. That was definitely more forceful than the last time. "Are you okay now?"

"…Yes," replied Darjeeling, her voice taking on an almost embarrassed tone. There was absolutely something wrong with this. But, she couldn't help but oblige. They weren't even dating, and yet Kay was touching Darjeeling in the manner of how she would fondle a Centurion tank at the Bovington Tank Museum. It sounded lewder than it actually was; Darjeeling only wanted to hug it over and over.

"How about some cake?" Kay asked, rubbing her stomach intently.

"You can go if you want, but I'd rather sit here." Darjeeling slumped back against the chair, sighing. Unbeknownst to the other girl, Darjeeling was only choosing not to go because she wanted to stay like that with Kay. In reality, she longed for a stack of cakes that she could gnash on, but Kay's influence was too strong!

"Mm… never mind, then," Kay responded, and she suddenly remembered something. "Oh! I was meant to meet you at the carrier ship, but Alisa kept me back. She was trying to find loopholes in Senshadou by looking at the rulebook and saying that it is encouraged to tap into the enemy's communications – which it isn't, of course…," sighed Kay as she recalled the past events in her day, unable to hide her disappointment for Alisa's "inventive techniques", as she would defensively refer to them.

"Oh, that's disgraceful," replied Darjeeling. " _Senshadou_ is an honourable art, and no such trickery should be used, lest that it destroys its sanctity. Your choice to reduce the amount of fighting tanks after her act during the battle against Ōarai Girls High School was very honourable."

"Well, it was a cause of our loss," murmured Kay.

"It's the thought that counts." Darjeeling paused to take a sip from her cup. "Miho Nishizumi's team did very well to win the tournament. I wonder if she enjoyed the tea I gave her."

"I heard that the school was closing down and their victory stopped the school from being shut down. Something tells me that won't happen, though."

"I don't think they would settle for that," responded Darjeeling. With a final sip, she finished her tea, which had been a long time coming. "It looks like that is the end of my tea." Without saying any more, the two sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, quietly appreciating each other's presence.

Kay quickly broke away, swore under her breath, and got up, placing her hand on a shocked Darjeeling's chair to pull herself up, facing two girls who had just entered the tea shop. "Alisa… Naomi! W-What brings you here?"

Darjeeling's cheeks were as radiant and hot as a nuclear fireball, and the pigment of her cheeks did little to counteract that statement. With a shocked expression, she turned to see Alisa and Naomi; the former was grinning and the latter's blank face told Darjeeling nothing about what she was feeling.

"We were just going to go shopping, and we see you here – cuddling with a girl!" Alisa chortled, ignoring the stern look that Darjeeling was now giving her.

"Come on, Alisa," Naomi growled, curling an arm around hers and forcefully dragging her off, out of the shop and out of sight, despite her protesting.

"That's going to be all over social media later," sighed Kay, distraught apprehensiveness painted on her face. She turned towards Darjeeling and said, "I'm so sorry, Darjeeling. Alisa just gets a bit… excited sometimes," she continued, her teeth grinding and her voice taking on a slightly edgier undertone. She walked over to the table, downing all of her tea and setting the cup down forcefully on the table. She didn't care about the hot liquid sliding down her throat, even though it hurt.

"It's okay," Darjeeling replied assuredly. "Should we… go?"

Darjeeling could feel the weight of Kay shift against her, and during the process of accommodating for the changed weight, she somehow found herself staring into Kay's shiny eyes. Her brain quickly went into damage control mode as she assessed her options and thought about how she would turn this around. Kay was now facing her and had her legs parted around Darjeeling's chair.

"No."

This situation was a bit dire. Kay appeared to have completely forgotten about the incident with Alisa, and was now honing on her like a pest control agent, armed with a flamethrower, finding a colony of hostile insects.

Kay thought she had nothing to lose. Despite her coolness about the situation, she actually wasn't experienced with romance, so she didn't know if advancing this quickly was wrong or not. Every single girl whom her brain had created a crush for – they were all straight. So, when she found out that Darjeeling was not straight through… unknown means… she tried harder with her, which involved the party. Sinful things happened at that party, but she hadn't planned the alcohol. She had known Darjeeling for a long time now, so it wasn't like it was wrong. Right?

Oh no, this wasn't happening, was it? Kay was smiling, almost smirking, as she silently leant in, until Darjeeling could feel Kay's warm breath on her face. She had her lips pouted…

They weren't meant to kiss on the first date! This broke all of the barriers and rules and stuff! The Anglophile's blood pressure and heart rate increased noticeably, to a point where she was almost expelling heat at twice the rate of a normal human being. In comparison, Kay was calm, as if she had done this a thousand times before.

What a horrible thought! She would prefer not to think about Kay being with other people…

Darjeeling hesitantly moved forward at the speed of a paraplegic snail, until her lips met Kay's like a battleship ramming into a cruiser. It was only for a few seconds, but Darjeeling felt like she had sprouted a set of angel wings and was slowly ascending into the clouds. When they both disconnected from the kiss, it took Darjeeling a few seconds to regain her senses. That was worth it.

Kay smiled sweetly and moved back into her chair, looking into Darjeeling's dazed eyes. "So, how about some more tea?"

* * *

The date had gone according to plan – well, for Kay, anyway… Darjeeling was still hyperventilating a little bit. Darjeeling rubbed her belly once more, barely being able to contain all of the tea and cake in it. She had to find excuses to stay there with Kay – and she couldn't think of anything else other than prolonging it by asking for more food.

They were now at the docks, illuminated by the beautiful sun, which was slowly descending below the horizon. It was time for the two to part ways. Kay immediately went on the offensive, and having shattered any barriers with an iron fist, she threw her arms around Darjeeling, who reciprocated.

"I really enjoyed this," she said, her head resting on Darjeeling's shoulder. "And we'll be doing it again, won't we?"

"Of course," responded Darjeeling.

"And it'll be the tea shop again, unless you have any other plans? It turns out I really like tea!"

"That's excellent!" replied the tea lover, her voice taking on a cadence of excitement. "Oh, yes, I must show you all of the flavours. I have a tea stash in my room, so I can treat you to a tea party, if you want. The other girls will want to be there too, though."

"You can all teach me!" Kay said, missing the disappointed intonation of Darjeeling's voice in the last sentence.

Darjeeling returned with a smile. Kay liked the way her head innocently tilted and her face dimpled as she smiled. "Yes," she replied.

"Awesome!" Kay grinned. "Now, if I want to stop myself from being teased for the next month, I'd better put my guard up. Thank you for your time, my lady," she continued in an exaggeratedly posh British accent (or at least, her horrible interpretation of one). To keep up with the British 'act', she took Darjeeling's hand and softly kissed it.

Darjeeling could not control the two flaring suns encased within her cheeks, and she could feel a blush of an atomic magnitude release. It was only then that she realised the time, by looking at the watch on her wrist. "O-Oh my, the time, Kay…"

"Don't worry! We'll talk again later." Kay winked at Darjeeling and gave her a thumbs-up. "Stay safe in your _Senshadou_ , will you? I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"Kay, the tanks are-"

"I know, I know! They're made to be safe. But still, stay safe!" Kay sounded genuinely worried for a second there. St. Gloriana's next match was going to be with a tough competitor, and Kay apparently knew this, judging from her reaction. She smiled and started walking off, waving towards Darjeeling as she moved onto the ship.

Darjeeling was sad to see her go, but they could see each other again soon. The ships were going to be docked there for a while… it was also extremely heart-warming to know that Kay cared about her. After a lot of walking, she found herself at the door to the room, slowly opening the door with the intent of jumping on the sofa and having a lie down. As soon as she entered, she spotted Assam sitting at the table, her face planted into the keyboard of her laptop. On the screen was the beautiful image of a smoking tank, with a tank destroyer's gun sticking out of a bush in front of the tank.

"It w-was p-point blank range! How could I not see it?!" mumbled Assam, her speech mostly blocked by the keyboard smothering her face.

"Assam, are you okay?" asked Darjeeling, closing the door behind her. "Where are Rukuriri and Orange Pekoe?"

"No! I'm on a ten-loss streak! After Orange Pekoe stopped playing with me, I started losing again and again! I think she carries me," replied Assam, turning on her chair to look at Darjeeling. She had a forlorn, crestfallen expression painted on her face, which made Darjeeling frown slightly.

"But where are Orange and Rukuriri?" Darjeeling repeated. "Where's Rosehip?"

"Apparently, Orange Pekoe and Rukuriri are watching _Doctor Who_ in the bedroom, but I think that's a lie! Orange Pekoe just wanted to stop playing with me, so she said she'd have a quick _Doctor Who_ break. It's been…" Assam took a short pause to check the time on her laptop, "…at least two hours, and she still isn't back. Rosehip is… somewhere. You know how she is."

"I suppose I'd better go check on them, just to be sure that they're fine." Darjeeling walked over to the bedroom door, but Assam asked her something before she entered.

"Did your date go well?" she asked spiritlessly, trying her hardest to ignore the tank on her screen that was producing an effect similar to fireworks as it exploded. She had somehow joined another game and died within the space of a few seconds… Assam was spectacularly bad at the game.

"It went very well. Thank you for asking!"

"That's good to hear," spoke a clearly irritated Assam, her teeth grinding together like two bad players trying to get a good tank on the game. It would take them a lot of grinding… "By the way, Darjeeling, you shouldn't go in there. They might be-"

"Assam, if you're getting angry, then it may be a good idea to stop playing," Darjeeling interjected, rather unhelpfully. She assumed that Assam was going to start talking about the game again. Then, she closed her hand around the doorknob, twisting it to open the door and revealing the contents inside. The light was set to a dim level; just enough for a shocked Darjeeling to see Orange Pekoe's ginger hair, which was also illuminated by a few red cheap candles dotted around the room. To the left of her was a long braid of brown hair placed over the duvet, with Rukuriri's head sticking out. On top of the mound that was Rukuriri's body was a black phone, which didn't appear to be turned on. "Girls?" Darjeeling said.

Darjeeling's single word caused an immediate reaction from Rukuriri, whose braid flew into the air as she partially pulled herself out of the covers and sat up, with the duvet covering her lower half. "D-Darjeeling?" she murmured, her eyes looking up to the blonde girl. She was wearing a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Darjeeling's attention immediately went towards the couple top buttons not fastened, even though she hated looking at it…

Orange Pekoe was the next to wake up, with her blue eyes blinking a few times before widening at the sight of Darjeeling looking down on them. She began to rise out of the covers, but Rukuriri spotted her doing so and quickly pulled the cover over Orange Pekoe. Rukuriri's expression was one of intense embarrassment, guilt, and pain.

Darjeeling immediately apologised. "I am so sorry! If you two were sleeping or something – though I don't remember saying you could use my bed – then-"

"Calm down, Darjeeling; it's not what it looks like," Rukuriri explained nonchalantly. She grabbed the phone on her lap and pushed on a button. The screen flashed to life, displaying an image of a robotic-looking contraption and a play button. "We were watching _Doctor Who_ and we fell asleep. Don't you see the Dalek?" She extended her arm, showing the phone to Darjeeling, who took it with confusion on her face.

"Oh… right." Darjeeling took a brief look at the paused video, and then gave it back to Rukuriri, who placed it on her lap. "I'll, uh, be leaving you two, then." Darjeeling awkwardly turned around and left the room, shutting the door behind her. It wasn't late. Why were they sleeping?

"That was too close…," Rukuriri sighed. "Who knows what Darjeeling would think of that uncultured show. I would rather not have her know about it at all. Do you want to watch some more?"

"It's quite cultured, actually – it comes from Britain! But I would love to watch more, since we are both awake now." Orange Pekoe grabbed the phone off Rukuriri's lap and sat up, revealing the Doctor Who t-shirt that she was wearing. It was a black shirt with a grey image of a vector Dalek imprinted onto it. Rukuriri's face turned from mild worry to full panic when she saw Orange Pekoe fumble at the phone and accidentally open the list of tabs…

"'How to Seduce Your Best Friend'? Well, whoever he is, he is lucky to meet somebody as nice as you, Rukuriri."

"Give me that!" Rukuriri yelled, snatching the phone, and placing the browser on the correct tab. "You really must be careful with my phone," she continued sternly. Was Orange Pekoe really this stupid?

"But you were the one who snatched it from me…," muttered Orange Pekoe, deflated. Her timid eyes looked around the room. "Why do we have those candles, anyway?"

"They were always there," replied Rukuriri defensively. "I'm more intrigued as to why Darjeeling didn't question it."

"You didn't answer my question…"

"Y… I-you… let's just watch it," sighed Rukuriri. She shuffled up next to Orange Pekoe and comfortably nestled her head on her shoulder. She didn't seem to mind Rukuriri's contact. In comfortable bliss – and doubly so for Rukuriri, the two continued to watch _Doctor Who_.

"You were right, Assam. Well, they were sleeping, but they were watching _Doctor Who_ as well," Darjeeling said, walking over to Assam, whose tank was firing at a heavy tank.

"How can they be watching _Doctor Who_ and sleeping at the same time?" Assam asked sceptically, quickly manoeuvring her tank to avoid a tank's shell.

"I don't know," Darjeeling responded, her face being illuminated by the nuclear explosion that Assam's tank produced when a rather large artillery shell hit its engine deck. "Do… do you need some help there?"

Instead of spouting out a few curse words and an insult, Assam decided to slam her face onto the keyboard again. Darjeeling could see how her head kept jerking, which indicated to her that she was crying. "Assam? Are you okay?" she asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No… I'm so bad… I'm so bad! I can't believe it…," wailed the broken girl, lifting her fist to slam the table, but her strength failed her and she gently set it on the table.

"I'll help you," Darjeeling responded, sitting at the table with Orange Pekoe's laptop. "She won't mind if I use her laptop, will she?"

"…No," Assam murmured. She took her face off the laptop and smiled as warmly as she could. "T-Thank you, Darjeeling." Her smile quivered and her eyes shot down to her feet. She was really happy that Darjeeling was going to play with her, as Orange Pekoe had been showing less interest in the game, Rosehip liked a different tank game, and Rukuriri didn't seem to like Assam or the tank game at all. "Nobody wants to play with me." She paused for a second, but it felt like ten minutes for Darjeeling, as she could feel the rising tension in the room. "W-We aren't really like a team anymore."

"Assam, what do you mean?" asked Darjeeling, logging into the computer. "We're about to play now, aren't we?"

"We never go out to the theatre anymore, Rukuriri is trying to take Orange Pekoe away from us… I don't remember the last time we had a sleepover!" By this point, Assam was bawling. Darjeeling frowned in worry.

"Assam, it's okay." Darjeeling got up from the chair and hugged her tightly. She wasn't exactly sure how she had deteriorated into _this_ ; she hadn't noticed much wrong with the girl! Assam reciprocated and cried into her shoulder for a long time. Slowly, Darjeeling realised the weight of all the little things that had happened over the past few days: business splitting apart the group, Darjeeling's worrying about her date, Rosehip's sudden disappearances, and Rukuriri's attempts to place one of her only friends into her clutches… and also, that strange reaction that Assam had, relating to Darjeeling talking about her date.

Darjeeling, Rosehip, and Orange Pekoe all had other friends to rely on. She was uncertain about Rukuriri, but she knew that Assam did not have many friends other than Orange Pekoe, Rosehip, and her. Her social media did not list many friends, and her gaming account hadn't gained any trophies for friend quantity. Darjeeling thought that being in the crew of the commander of St. Gloriana Girls High School's _Senshadou_ team would make her popular enough.

Eventually, the two disconnected from the hug (though, it seemed that Assam didn't want to let go, indicated by her strong hold on Darjeeling), and Darjeeling, instead of sitting back down, went to go retrieve her phone. She grabbed it, and she knew what she needed to do. Assam looked at her confusedly. "What are you doing with your phone?" she asked as Darjeeling sat back down at the table.

Opening the messenger app and pressing on Kay's face made Darjeeling feel warm. She smiled at her phone, and then to Assam, whose eyebrows raised with even more confusion. "My friend and I are going to make you feel better," she answered with a smirk. At the same time, she selected her tank, entered the game, and started typing a message to Kay with one finger.

 _Isn't everything just so sweet? Well, mostly everything. I'm going to try and put mostly every character into this at one point. There will probably never be a defined ending; I'll just keep going until I get bored of it._


	2. Chapter 2

**Darjeeling has a party**

 _You're still reading this after the last "chapter"? Wow, I am impressed. This chapter is going to contain a lot of ship bait, and I'm sure you can figure out what part that is. Bearing in mind that the entire first part wasn't even on my plan – it was an 'adlib' of sorts._

"So, is it set, then? Are we going to have a party?" asked Darjeeling, a smartphone pressed up against her ear. She was making sure to keep her voice low, for the sake of Assam hearing. She was alone in the lounge, which is exactly what she hadn't wanted; she had entered Darjeeling's dorm in order to escape the loneliness, but her commander specifically instructed her not to enter her bedroom, which was for her benefit, apparently.

Darjeeling was dangling her bare legs on the bed as she stayed sat on it. She hadn't bothered to get dressed, so she was wearing black shorts, which were partially covered by the baggy white tank top she was wearing.

"You betcha!" Kay answered over the phone. "It's going to be the best party that Assam will ever go to. She's going to love it, Darjeeling. And we will, too! I'm going to invite some other people as well. We can't just have a party with three people."

"Who else are you inviting?" Darjeeling asked.

"So, I'm going to say that this party is a celebration for Ōarai's victory in the tournament. That means that some of the girls from Ōarai might want to come. And, I think I'll invite some of the Pravda girls as well. Do you think Assam would like that?"

"Well, I know she likes company, and it might be an opportunity for her to make some new friends," Darjeeling responded happily. "Thank you for doing this, Kay. It means a lot to me, and I know it will mean a lot to Assam."

"I'll do anything if it will make you and your friend happy," Kay responded warmly.

Darjeeling lowered the phone and looked down, feeling her cheeks warm up in response to Kay's reply. "Are you going to invite your friends?" she asked, putting the phone up to her ear again.

"I don't know what they would think about any of this. I, uh, didn't say anything about my sexuality, so this was a shock to them. And Alisa, well, she isn't exactly… approving, if you get what I'm saying," Kay responded, a little bit of hurt showing through the sudden lack of spirit in her voice.

"Is there something wrong?" Darjeeling asked, picking up on Kay's saddened tone.

"No, no, no. It's fine. Alisa just said some things, that's all. That's why I don't want to invite her," Kay responded, her voice even more shattered. Just as she had destroyed the mood, she brightened it up again, interjecting on Darjeeling's concerned reply and saying: "So, let's get started with this party, shall we? We'll need food and tea. Lots of tea."

"Kay," Darjeeling stated, completely devoid of emotion.

"Y-Yes?" she responded, trying not to show any weakness in her voice. She already knew what Darjeeling was going to say – or ask. "Look, we'll discuss it later, okay… over some tea?"

"Yes," Darjeeling replied. She got up from the bed and looked in the mirror. Wow, she didn't look as good as she did yesterday. At that time, she felt like the most beautiful woman in the world, and now – with Assam and Kay's problems, she could only frown. There were light purple sags that had taken precedence under her eyes, on account of her lack of sleep the previous night. Unsurprisingly, the exciting events of her date had left her without much sleep, as her thoughts were constantly going in circles.

There really was no need for frowning. She was going to turn this around and be the best friend to Assam that she could possibly be; which started with this party.

"Darjeeling, I'll get the snacks, and you get the tea," Kay said, her voice inflected by determined goodwill and happiness. A few words wouldn't get her down.

"Of course!" Darjeeling responded. If a smile could be put into speech, then that was a perfect smile she just inserted there.

"I'm sorry Darjeeling, but I have to go now. I've got a maths exam tomorrow and I haven't studied for it at all. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Goodbye!" Darjeeling responded, hearing the sound of Kay disconnecting. She placed her phone on the bed and, with a slight delay caused by tiredness, opened the bedroom door to see Assam, who was dressed in her school uniform for some reason.

Assam was sitting on the sofa and appeared to be asleep; and her light snoring proved that. It had only been earlier when Assam asked to play her favourite tank game with her, so Darjeeling assumed that she would be in tip-top shape for some tank combat. It was just going to be her and Darjeeling, as Orange Pekoe and Rosehip were busy with schoolwork, and Rukuriri seemed to appear only when Orange Pekoe was there.

Darjeeling walked softly over to the sofa, bending over to tap Assam on the shoulder. After three consecutive taps, Assam's eyes slowly opened and took in the daylight. The first sight that Assam saw was a bent over Darjeeling with a baggy tank top on, and that provided enough evidence to prove to Assam that she was dreaming. Consequently, she quickly groaned and slumped over like a lethargic gorilla.

"Assam?" Darjeeling asked, righting her posture and scratching her head. "Do you need some coffee?"

"Tea…," Assam moaned. "F-Five sugars, please…"

"Oh, uh, sure!" Darjeeling responded happily; she was glad to see that she had prompted a response out of Assam. She advanced her hand next to Assam, shaking it so she could grab it and get herself upright. It took a few seconds for Assam to notice and grab her hand. Assam put both hands into her one hand, and made a thorough observation of how soft Darjeeling's hand was. Clearly, she had used a lot of hand cream.

The girls' eyes briefly met – blue on blue. Darjeeling immediately saw the large purple bags under Assam's eyes, and the so-called "sleep dust" that clouded them. Her blonde hair was unkempt, and her clothes looked like they had experienced the full force of a broken iron, that, despite what it said on the box, did not iron clothes. Rather, the iron took glee in messing up Assam's clothes to the point of her looking like she had tried to kiss a hurricane. In reality, Assam had just slept with them on and hadn't bothered to change.

While Darjeeling was occupying herself with inferring Assam's sleep pattern just by looking at her eyes, her partner was half-asleep, but conscious enough to focus on the pretty blues of Darjeeling's eyes. The way they twinkled in the light made her heart melt.

"Assam, how much sleep have you had?" Darjeeling asked, kneeling down and looking up at the defunct girl, who was no longer slumping on the sofa. When she didn't respond, Darjeeling squeezed her hands until her nerve endings cared enough to alert her brain of the pressure.

"I… didn't get any sleep," Assam slurred. She didn't fancy telling Darjeeling why she didn't get any sleep, as it would be a long story, and she didn't want to tell Darjeeling about the nightmare where a platoon of sentient tank destroyers brutally assaulted her. That was just when her body was threatening to fall into a deep sleep, as well.

It wasn't only that, of course. The past few days had been quite honestly hellish for the poor girl, and she was finding it hard to deal with, especially because Darjeeling was getting crushed by an increasing amount of schoolwork, and she relied on her a lot. But when she and Darjeeling were in the same room, she could feel her spirits lift considerably. Her eyes blurrily focused on the smiling girl in front of her, and it made her realise just how much she relied on her…

"I think your tiredness is rubbing on me, Assam," Darjeeling said, trying to stifle a yawn. But despite her best efforts, the yawn escaped her lips and she found herself putting her hand over her mouth. "I didn't get much sleep, either. Do you think it would be okay if I slept for a couple of hours? Kay is organising the- wait, no." Darjeeling stopped herself before she let the secret slip.

"Probably…," Assam responded, her non-existent grip merely a faint presence on Darjeeling's hands. "My mother always told me to go to bed early, but I never listened to her…"

"Have you heard this saying?" Darjeeling began. "Mother knows best."

"I think everyone knows that saying, Darjeeling," sighed Assam.

Quickly, Darjeeling formed a plan to help the sleepy girl. "I'm going to make us some hot chocolate, and then we can spend the rest of the time on that thing that Rukuriri was using – the VPN or whatever it was. To watch _Doctor Who_?" Darjeeling took her hands off Assam's, smiled at her, and then walked into the kitchen to prepare the hot chocolate. She was honestly worried about her friend, and she felt like she needed to hold her hands in order to check if she still had a pulse.

Assam didn't even react. Her eyes darted around the room and she wondered where Darjeeling had gone. Her eyelids cascaded on herself and when Darjeeling came out of the kitchen, two red, steaming mugs of hot chocolate in either hand, she sighed at Assam's condition.

"Oh, Assam," she muttered, "why didn't I notice this before?" Darjeeling frowned, and took gloom in reflecting at how bad she was at inferring people's problems and emotions. She set the two mugs on a small table in front of the sofa. "Assam," she said.

"Whuh?" Assam suddenly woke up and answered, as if she was drunk. She tiredly peered up at Darjeeling, who had her arms crossed. Her facial expression showed neutrality about the situation.

"Do you want a blanket?" asked her commander.

"…Yes," answered Assam.

"I'll be just a minute," Darjeeling stated, walking into her bedroom. She grabbed the ends of a white blanket and yanked it from the bed, neatly rolling it up and then tucking it in her arm. Her other hand grabbed the laptop that was sitting on her bed, along with a list of instructions for the VPN thing, "love from Rukuriri." Darjeeling wasn't sure if she was being serious or not, but Rukuriri was an odd fellow, so she assumed it was merely a joke.

"The cavalry's here!" Darjeeling announced, sitting on the sofa, placing the blanket over Assam and herself, and then, with a soft "flumf", putting the laptop on her lap.

Assam suddenly felt a jolt of life when Darjeeling's leg contacted hers. She reached forward, closed her fingers around the mug of hot chocolate, and then took a short sip of it. It tasted like it had been bought in the store five months ago, but it was good nonetheless. "Thank you, Darjeeling," she said. This moment brought a rare smile to her cheeks, which were also slowly flushing red at the speed of an expensive toilet.

"So, what do you want to do? Contrary to what you may believe, I have all day to do fun things. I'm not swamped up in schoolwork as much as everyone thinks." Darjeeling began typing her username and password into the laptop, whilst Assam groaned, fatigue constricting her ability to do anything, much like a python.

At that point, despite the opportunity to play her favourite game with the best commander in the school, Assam decided that she didn't want to do anything except sleep with Darjeeling – and no, not in that way. "I'd like to go to sleep," she said, hoping that her boringness didn't disappoint Darjeeling.

"I'm okay with that," Darjeeling replied, and she sounded rather happy about it. She closed the laptop, placing it on the table (along with Rukuriri's instructions), and rested her head on the soft sofa. The girl closed her eyes and was asleep in minutes. The two mugs of hot chocolate sat there steaming as Assam mustered enough courage to rest her head on her commander's shoulder. A subtle contented smile dared to creep at the edges of her mouth, and then she was very quickly asleep with Darjeeling.

Assam didn't wake up until Darjeeling's phone rang and she got up, leaving Assam to slump into the sofa, saying that it was an "important call." But, after she counted the hours, she discovered that it was the best sleep she had had for a very long time.

* * *

 _Later…_

Kay fumbled around with her phone as she ran her finger pads along the piece of lined paper. On each row was a bullet pointed name. Her blue eyes scanned the page, going from the top to the bottom. She was going to contact Miho Nishizumi and invite her to the St. Gloriana ship to have a small party. Her finger scratched at the bottom of her chin as she wondered if she had to invite anyone else.

She stretched her legs out on the single bed, choosing to ignore the pieces of scattered maths homework around her. Despite her attempts to take a pencil to it and get working to study for her exam, she had found great difficulty in actually doing so. She had declared to herself that she would get it done after finishing this little task.

Primarily for more selfish reasons, she had written the commander and vice commander of Pravda Girls High School down on the list: the two girls known as Katyusha and Nonna. She had not seen them in a while, and revelled in the idea of talking to Nonna, who was normally always babysitting Katyusha. She really wouldn't be surprised if Nonna actually turned out to be Katyusha's mother.

Anyhow, her thoughts were straying away from the situation at hand. She had now deemed the list of presumed attendants to be necessary for Assam's needs. She hadn't met the girl, but based on Darjeeling's description about her, she liked company and bad jokes.

Perfect! She clasped at the phone that sat by her, pressing the power button and navigating to the contacts menu. Kay was a bubbly and very friendly person, so it would be natural for her to have a lot of contacts. Her finger slowly dragged through the list of contacts until she reached the M's. Whilst rubbing her eyes with her hand, she tapped on the Nishizumi and started writing a message to her.

After deeming the message worthy to send to Miho Nishizumi, she tapped on the send button. After looking at her contacts list for a few seconds after, she wasn't entirely sure if she had sent it to the right Nishizumi… oh well. Next, time to message Nonna!

 _Even later…_

The black cellphone hopped around on the table as it vibrated, prompting Maho to grab it and place it next to her on the brown coffee table. This paperwork was getting really boring, and she felt the need to stimulate some of her brain cells by checking her notifications. Leaning back in the green office chair, she wrapped one leg over the other, picked up the phone and was met with a degree of surprise that Kay had contacted her.

The message was regarding something about a party, dated for next week. Maho knew that she was too swamped in work to go to a party, but she knew a person who would do that – anything – for her. The brunette turned around in her chair to face a girl in front of her. She was sitting on a bright red beanbag, which provided a stark contrast to the rest of the room, which resembled an office. She had her face placed into a booklet called _Tigerfibel_ , from what Maho could read. It seemed she was enjoying it a lot.

"Erika?" Maho asked, making the girl instantly turn her head towards Maho, with unusually enthusiastic shining light blue eyes.

"Commander?" asked Erika, who placed the manual down. Maho found it amusing that she still called her "commander", even when there was no need to do so.

Even though Kuromorimine Girls High School's Senshadou team's commander would not be attending the party, its second-in-command could. The location of the party was aboard St. Gloriana Girls High School's carrier ship, which could provide Maho with some useful intel if it were to be scouted out by a spy. The plan was dirty, but all's fair in Senshadou…

"Do you feel like going to a party? I would appreciate it very much if you would attend this party on my behalf." Maho got up and placed herself on the beanbag with Erika. "You do not have to, of course."

"Yes," Erika replied. It's not like she had anything better to do, other than freak out at the slowly amassing paperwork on her desk. "But, why would I need to attend for you?"

"I feel that this will provide us with some valuable information if we ever have to battle St. Gloriana. Kay will be there as well, and presumably her vice-commanders." Maho's reply was accompanied by a sly smile, which Erika did not see much of, apart from when she was in her "lawless tactician" mode. It was one of those days.

* * *

A few minutes after that, it was Pravda's turn. Unlike Kuromorimine's commander, Nonna was being relatively lax about her work, as she had mostly completed it. She was sitting in Katyusha's room, and she was occupying herself by scribbling on a piece of paper. From Nonna's view, what she was scribbling appeared to be a battle plan for an upcoming battle against Oarai Girls High School and Chi-Ha-Tan Academy, but she couldn't make out the fine details.

She stood up, and intended to assist her commander with her battle plans. Katyusha was very arrogant and believed herself to be more superior than most, but ultimately, she was an excellent tactician. She sat down next to Katyusha, placing her elbows on the table, and studying Katyusha's battle plan.

"Nonna, your IS-2 is going to go he-" Katyusha began to say, placing her finger on the piece of paper, but the sound of a Russian song behind her distracted her.

Nonna wordlessly got up and walked over to her phone, which was placed on a table. She turned the phone on and viewed the notification. "We have been invited to a party."

"Ooo!" Katyusha replied, excitedly placing the pencil on the table and turning around to see Nonna. "Where? Finally, something to put me off this mindless work!"

Nonna walked over to Katyusha and handed her the phone. Her big eyes shone as she scanned the details, and Nonna could tell by Katyusha's open mouthed smile that she was excited. They didn't get invited to many parties, on account of Katyusha's habit to ruin things with her temper. It got even worse if Nonna wasn't there to keep her in check.

"Free tea?" Katyusha gasped at the additional information included in the invitation. "We must go, Nonna! Get the flag and the futons! We shall make our presence known!"

Nonna nodded and walked into Katyusha's bedroom, where everything was stored. On the wall was a painting of the two of them together, which Katyusha had specified to be painted by the "best artist in Japan." Resting on the wall was a large flag with Pravda's insignia. Nonna preferred not to bring attention to herself, but Katyusha always insisted on bringing the flag and announcing their arrival wherever they went.

There was also a bag sitting by the flag; it was a dull red, with Pravda's insignia imprinted onto its side. She closed her fingers around the bag and hauled it up. To say that it was heavy was an understatement; it was practically bursting at the seams, and Nonna could see some of the threads fraying as a result of the overwhelming weight. It was a good thing that Nonna was a big and strong girl.

Whenever Nonna brought out this bag, it meant that they were going to have a sleepover, even if the hosts of the gathering did not particularly approve of it. She exited the bedroom and greeted Katyusha, who was still reading the details of the party. "Is the Nagant in there?" she asked. She turned her head towards Nonna, expecting an instant answer.

Nonna placed the bag on the table, unzipping it and reaching in to feel for the Nagant. It was indeed in there, so she responded with a nod and zipped the bag up again.

Katyusha grinned and looked back at the piece of paper on her table. "The longer we stay, the more tea we'll get. Isn't this a perfect plan, Nonna?"

"Yes," responded Nonna, walking over to Katyusha and sitting down next to her again. She would not normally disagree with her commander, as doing so was normally an ill-advised decision. "Do you need help with that?"

Katyusha peered down at her battle strategy. "Yes!" she answered.

So, Nonna went over the battle strategy with Katyusha, again and again until it was perfect. This went on for several hours; and by the end of it, the two commanders knew that Oarai and Chi-Ha-Tan stood no chance against them and St. Gloriana. It had then occurred to Nonna that she could use the time with Darjeeling in order to discuss their battle strategy.

* * *

The next few days had gone smoothly for Darjeeling's crew. Darjeeling was nervously anticipating her next meetup with Kay. Normally, she was such a calm and composed girl, but Kay's mere presence made her do things such as sweating and sometimes shaking. It was not a new feeling, but it had only multiplied since the date… she was surprised that she was lucky enough to meet somebody as amazing as Kay. They were still just friends, but with how forward Kay was, she expected that to change soon. Darjeeling preferred the slow and steady route; but Kay seemed to want to go in the opposite direction. She would just enjoy it.

The other girls were fine as well. Orange Pekoe and Rukuriri repeatedly disappeared at random intervals, and Darjeeling couldn't figure out why. Rukuriri normally always came back a bit angry, and Orange Pekoe looking as confused as ever. Rukuriri always took a piece of lined paper with her, and with each encounter she had with Darjeeling, the latter would notice that one more bullet-pointed sentence would be crossed out in red ink, and the paper would be more scrunched up. It was like she was going through a list of options for something. Also, Darjeeling noticed that sometimes Rukuriri wasn't as buttoned up as she should be – and no, she didn't mean that in the tank sense.

Since Assam's incident, Darjeeling had been very eager to help her out, sometimes too much. Assam was feeling better, but what had happened to her was not a temporary bout… and after Rosehip learnt about it, she was aghast. One of her own brethren feeling like that? How absurd and inconceivable! On that day, Assam had learnt more about Rosehip than she had in her entire life. She found her to be good company.

* * *

"Kay, are you sure this is for Assam?" Darjeeling asked with a polka-dotted party hat sitting on her head, her arms crossed. She was looking at Kay, who was standing on a chair and putting tinsel-like decorations up around the room. "Christmas is a while away."

"She's going to love it," Kay answered, choosing not to answer Darjeeling with anything. She grinned at the silver tinsel that reflected her shiny eyes back into her vision, and hopped off the chair. "We've only got thirty minutes, so I would appreciate some help here."

"We should have done this yesterday," Darjeeling replied, getting up from the sofa that she was sitting on and walking over to Kay. Behind the two girls was a box full of decorations, and random bits of food that Kay had hastily thrown into her shopping basket at the supermarket. "At least I have selected the finest teas available. Assam loves making tea for people."

"Are you all addicted to tea or something? Myself, I love a big burger," Kay responded. She put her hands on her hips and peered at every decoration in the room. She deemed it to be perfect, and with that, she shot a smile at Darjeeling, who was thrown off by it and tried to reply with a small smile.

"It is an Englishwoman's duty to enjoy tea to the fullest," Darjeeling responded. "I have never met a British person who did not like tea."

"Have you even met a British person before?" asked Kay, grabbing some plastic plates that were situated next to the pieces of food, and placing food on them.

Darjeeling thought for a second. "Uh… I don't know," is what she replied with, even though she was pretty sure that she had never met anyone who was British. They were rare in Japan…

"Where is the tea, anyway?" Kay asked, continuing to put food everywhere. There were not many places, and even though Darjeeling's quarters were unusually large for a Japanese room, she soon found that there was no more space for anything. She sighed as she placed a plate of cupcakes on the floor. She had painstakingly made those herself, which was unlike any of the other food in the room, so she hoped that nobody would step on them.

"In the kitchen. I will have it ready in a jiffy," Darjeeling responded, walking into the small kitchen.

 _In a jiffy… I have no idea what that means_ , Kay thought, raising an eyebrow.

Darjeeling came out a few minutes later, satisfied with the state of the place. She looked at Kay, who was still wearing her school uniform. Darjeeling was simply wearing a dress shirt; in fact, the same one from when she had the date with Kay. Her hair was braided into the iconic French braid, and she was wearing a plaited navy blue skirt. "Aren't you going to change for the party?" she asked.

"Nah," Kay replied casually. "Well, maybe I'll take off my tie."

Around ten minutes later, Kay had taken her tie off, and it was resting on the table, along with random assortments of food. In more exciting and important news, the first guest was arriving. Erika Itsumi stood outside of Darjeeling's dorm. She was wearing a dark grey jumper with Kuromorimine's insignia on it, and some blue denim jeans. She had dressed up well, but without Maho to look at it, she did not feel as happy as she should have.

Three knocks on the door later, the door opened. Erika expected to be met with a welcome and a smile from Darjeeling or Kay, but she was met with confusion.

Darjeeling had to rack her brain to remember Erika's name, as she had not seen or talked to her in a long time. "Erika!" she stated confusedly. "Are you here for the party?"

"Yes," Erika responded. She only spoke one word, and it sounded as coolly uninviting as Darjeeling had remembered her.

"Come in," Darjeeling replied. "We have lots of tea and food – would you like some t… tea?" Darjeeling stuttered on the last word, as she had realised who she had forgotten to invite.

"Yes, please," Erika replied politely. She chose to sit next to the table with a bunch of food on it. Even if this was a reconnaissance mission, Erika would not hesitate to try Darjeeling's famous tea. Instead of talking to Kay and Darjeeling, she got out her phone and immediately started texting Maho.

"Kay!" Darjeeling walked over to the girl, who was standing next to the table. She wrapped her arm around her and whispered into her ear: "Guess who we forgot to invite!"

Erika looked up to the two girls conversing, and found the whole situation to be very strange. In Kuromorimine's parties (they came around very infrequently), everything was much more structured, and much higher budget, admittedly. She really should have asked somebody else to come with her. But despite her mission, she would make the best out of this party. She would drink lots of tea and talk to the fellow commanders… and hopefully talk them into revealing information that they would naturally reveal in a relaxed environment. A sly smile crept across her lips.

"Assam!" Darjeeling continued, as she was met with a blank face from Kay. "And the others!"

"Ohmygosh! Yes, go and invite them now!" Kay responded, prompting Darjeeling to go and find her phone. After that, she gazed down on Erika, who was texting Maho alongside watching the two girls panic.

"The two girls are currently panicking, Commander," texted Kuromorimine's second-in-command. Even when texting Maho, she considered formality to be important – she didn't want to disappoint her Commander with informal, brash language.

On the other end of the chat, Maho was just about ready to pick up her phone and throw it into Japan's sea in order to stop it from distracting her. But still, she persisted. She assumed it was Koume sending her unfunny memes from that imageboard again, but she couldn't be bothered to check.

"I'll go get Assam and the others," Darjeeling said, and then she left. She assumed that Erika and Kay would sit together in awkward silence, since Erika didn't seem the type to talk to random strangers. She exited her room and walked down the hall – conveniently, the girls' rooms were near each other. She brought her fist up to Assam's door and knocked on it softly.

The result was a surprised "I'm coming!", and then the door opened. Darjeeling was presented with a shaky smile from her friend. Her hair was very unkempt, and she was wearing her school uniform, sans the blue jumper. Assam exhaustedly rested a hand on the door and asked, "What brings you here, Darjeeling?" In the background was a black tie and a desk, which had stacks on paper on it.

"We've got a surprise for you," Darjeeling replied, and grabbed Assam's hand. She was about to protest, but holding Darjeeling's hand was enough to pacify her, even if it was bloody cold. "We're going to get the rest of the crew as well."

"Okay…," Assam muttered. She was knee deep in schoolwork, but she did need a break, and with who other than Darjeeling? She let herself be dragged by Darjeeling, and soon they were at Orange Pekoe's door.

Darjeeling knocked on the door three times, and didn't get an answer. After knocking on it thrice again, she shrugged and walked away with Assam. On to Rosehip and Rukuriri… even though the latter barely spoke to them…

Inside Orange Pekoe's dorm, Rukuriri had her finger pressed firmly over Orange Pekoe's lips, and shushed her whenever she made a sound of even one decibel. When she was certain Darjeeling was gone, she asked in her sweetest voice: "Keep reading?"

Orange Pekoe was reading a book for Rukuriri, and the latter had wrapped around Orange Pekoe on the small chair, which made her feel rather uncomfortable. She placed her head on her shoulder as Orange Pekoe began to read the book again. Unsurprisingly, it was in English, and Rukuriri was using this "English language teaching session" as an excuse to get close to her. She could finally put a tick on something on her list…

Meanwhile, Darjeeling had returned to the party with only Assam, and even though she was a bit disappointed about that, she was determined to put a good face for her friend. Kay smiled as Assam and Darjeeling walked through the door, and the girl from Kuromorimine held no apparent reaction.

"Erika and Kay, this is Assam. I couldn't locate the other girls, unfortunately."

"Hi!" Kay said in English for some reason, and then walked over to Assam, offering her hand to her.

"Hello," Assam replied politely, gingerly taking Kay's hand and shaking it. _So, this is the girl…_ , she thought.

"Hello," Erika said, raising a hand and then returning to her phone. Maho had finally picked the phone up and was communicating with her. Apart from that, she had made an offhanded comment to Kay that the Tiger I was objectively the best tank of the war. She was trying her best to be social.

"Does anyone want a cup of tea?" Assam asked, as if she were a robot, automatically stating that as soon as she had another chance to speak.

"We would love one, Assam," Darjeeling said, putting her arm around Kay and pulling a grin.

"Oh! Yeah! Yes," Kay chimed in, remembering what Darjeeling had said. "We love tea, don't we?"

"I would like some tea as well," answered Erika, shooting a rotten look at Darjeeling's nape, since she couldn't see her face. "No sugar."

"I need sugar. America loves their sugar, so naturally, I like sugar as well," Kay stated.

"Okay!" Assam smiled, and walked into the kitchen. "I will be back with your tea!" she called.

"That was a genuine smile," Darjeeling said, her voice low and quiet. "We… we don't see much of those any more. It warms my heart to see her smile like that."

"You can make her feel better. I know you can," Kay replied.

Behind them, Erika was quietly detailing every part of their conversation to Maho. She thought that knowing the mental states of the girls would be advantageous if they were to battle St. Gloriana or Saunders Academy. Regardless if Maho wanted this information or not, she was getting it.

The atmosphere was very calm. Erika looked up from her phone and asked, "Do you drink tea all of the time?" It was an awkward question, but her previous comment hadn't encouraged conversation; it had only stifled it by offending Kay, and Erika needed more intel to take home.

"Tea is my life source," responded Darjeeling. "It is crucial for an Englishwoman to enjoy tea. Unsurprisingly, all of us at St. Gloriana Girls High School are like this. Simply, it would just be inappropriate if it were any other way!"

"Are you actually an Englishwoman, though?" Erika asked sceptically. "Just because I attend a school that themes their tanks after German vehicles, it does not mean I am always angry, shout all of the time and drink beer."

 _Always angry? From what I've seen of you, you are always angry_ , thought Kay.

"…No," sighed the "Englishwoman". "Don't you drink tea, Erika? The saying goes, 'tea can soothe the soul'."

"Is that something you made up on the spot? I do not believe that tea soothes the soul any more than a good bottle of Jägermeister."

"A _bottle_?" Kay repeated, dumbfounded. "No wonder Kuromorimine fights like a pack of wolves… do you drug your girls with alcohol?"

"No!" Erika retorted, colour suddenly flushing across her cheeks and ears. "I didn't mean a bottle! I don't even like Jägermeister! D-Do you know how hard it is to get in Japan?!" Erika's face suddenly lost all of the colour it had gained and she sniffed, as if she was about to cry.

"Sssh… don't worry, Erika. I understand." Darjeeling placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, which didn't do much to calm her down. "Kay gave me some alcohol once, and that was the day I felt more emotions than I will ever feel in my entire life. That was also the day when I learnt that it is really hard to be a commander when everything is blurry and you feel like you want to pass out… unsurprisingly, we lost that match."

"That was Alisa's idea," Kay chimed in. "Worked a treat. With some alcohol in them, those Matildas and Churchills couldn't hit a Tiger II from ten metres away, even if their life depended on it. Good thing it was a practice match, ey?"

"You people are barbarians," Erika replied indignantly, folding her arms. "Kuromorimine uses fair tactics, and contrary to what you may think, we do not feed our students alcohol. That's illegal. The drinking age here is- wait, Kay, how did you get the alcohol?"

"I have my ways," Kay replied with a wink.

"Well, do you think you'd be able to-" Erika began to say, but her sentence was cut off by a loud knock at the door, followed by some more loud banging and the click of a gun's hammer.

"Somebody's at the door!" Darjeeling stated excitedly, unfazed by the loud knocking. Her hand gripped the doorknob and she twisted the door open. What immediately entered the room was certainly a spectacle to behold.

"Pravda is here!" announced Katyusha, who was sitting on Nonna's shoulders as they entered the room. She almost hit her head on the doorframe, but regardless, she pressed a trumpet to her lips and blew a horribly out of tune vibration that could only be called a sound in the broadest of terms. The resounding "sound" made Kay and Darjeeling cringe, and caused Erika to sigh. She thought it was going so well, too. Why did Russian Napoleon have to come along?

"The mighty Katyusha and Nonna are here!" continued the little tyrant, with a cocked revolver in one hand and the trumpet in the other. God knows who let her get her grubby mitts on a firearm, even if it was two-tone in colour and clearly was a BB gun. The two girls were in their Pravda uniforms.

"Katyusha, please give the gun to me," Nonna sighed, and took the gun when Katyusha begrudgingly handed it to her whilst grumbling, "Nonna never lets me have any fun." Nonna was holding a large bag (which she had put the gun into) and had a large red flag nestled under her right arm. The two colours went well together: dull red and bright red.

"Welcome to the party!" Darjeeling stated jovially. "We don't have much, but we do have tea and food! Assam is just making tea in the kitchen, so she'll be out in a moment. I'm sure you two know Kay and Erika already. Anyway, I'll be right back," Darjeeling continued, and then she walked into the kitchen to check on Assam.

The blonde-haired girl was standing at the table top, slowly stirring some tea in a white cup with a pink floral pattern on it. Despite that she was making tea, which she loved to do, her posture implied to Darjeeling that she wasn't very happy.

"Assam?" her commander asked, approaching her and resting on the left of her, on the table top. "Assam – are you okay?"

The girl finally looked up to Darjeeling, and with a trembling mouth, stated: "Everyone is out there talking and having fun whilst I'm ignored and left to make tea…"

"Oh, Assam – I'm so sorry," Darjeeling responded, and cursed herself for being so thoughtless. She gave Assam a short hug, to which she reciprocated with a smile, and then Darjeeling continued speaking. "I'll make the tea with you, okay?"

"That would be wonderful," Assam replied, and Darjeeling could take from the tone of her voice even the smallest bit of happiness.

Whilst the two girls jovially made tea together, Katyusha had already collected two plates' worth of food to eat, including three cupcakes. Kay and Erika were more modest with their food selection (the former liked to say she was on a diet), and Nonna chose to eat nothing. She would make some borscht later on.

All of the girls were sitting on the floor, with their plates of food. "Katyusha, do you not think that is a little bit too much?" Kay asked, rubbing the back of her head. She cringed as the little gremlin downed another cupcake.

"You can't tell me what to do!" Katyusha replied, little giblets of cupcake exiting her mouth with each syllable that she made. "If I eat lots, then I'll grow nice and tall! I'm going to be taller than Nonna by the time I'm twenty-years-old!"

"Somehow, I do not think that's possible," Erika whispered into Kay's ear, to which she replied with a stifled laugh.

"Hey! What are you laughing about?!" Katyusha snarled, ferociously chomping on her last cupcake. She definitely fit the description of a Russian bear right now; and so did her lawless eating etiquette. "I'm going to grow tall, aren't I, Nonna?"

"Of course," Nonna replied, even though she knew that that had about as small a chance as a boy wanting to do _Senshadou_. The social stigma was simply too much to bear. But she enjoyed the grin on Katyusha's face that beamed brightly as soon as she replied.

"Ha! See!" Katyusha responded triumphantly, accidentally getting a bit of dribble rolling down her chin. "Nonna thinks I will grow tall! That's four against two!"

At that point, Nonna already had a handkerchief out and rubbed Katyusha's face without a second thought, despite that Katyusha had stated multiple times that she was capable of cleaning her own face. She always missed a spot, though, so Nonna had to help her.

"Four against two?" Kay asked. "Where'd you get the extra two from?"

"Darjeeling and Assam think I will grow tall as well! If they think otherwise… well, then they would find themselves on a long trip to Siberia, sold for only twenty-five rubles!" Katyusha replied. "Nonna makes all of my food as well, and she knows how to make healthy food!"

At this point, Erika just sighed. She wasn't gaining any intel from this conversation, and that annoying little tyrant wouldn't stop talking about being tall. Maybe her genes were just inferior or something.

It was then that Darjeeling and Assam emerged from the kitchen, with a cup of tea in one hand, under a small plate with a spoon and a few packets of sugar. "It did not occur to me to ask how much sugar you wanted, so we will let you choose," said Darjeeling, setting a cup of tea down for Kay first.

"Thank you, my lady," Kay replied in an exaggerated British accent. She set the cup of tea down on the floor.

While Darjeeling was fetching the next cup of tea, Assam set one down for Erika, to which she replied with a " _Danke_ ", and a random testing " _Panzers sind besser_ ". Of course, Assam didn't understand what she said, but she did well to assume.

"The Sherman Firefly will destroy any of your measly Tigers any day," Assam replied icily. "Don't even get me started on the Centurion." With that, she walked away, leaving Erika a confused, but intrigued woman. The next thing she did was text to Maho that Assam was a very feisty girl.

"Where's my tea?" Katyusha growled, jealously eyeing Kay's tea, which she sipped in blissful delight.

"It will come soon, Katyusha," replied Nonna. She was also anxiously waiting for the arrival of the tea, as she hadn't had a good cup of tea in a while – especially one from St. Gloriana, no doubt – and her own tea was unsatisfactory most of the time, according to her commander. Katyusha had very refined tastes.

After a few minutes of Katyusha growling indignantly, the tea finally came. Tea was laid down for both Nonna and Katyusha; the former let the aroma of the tea get caught in her nostrils contentedly, and the latter squealed in delight and then immediately burnt her tongue on the surface of the liquid. Her tongue created a ripple as it recoiled back, and then she was back to being angry again.

"It looks like they are all satisfied," Darjeeling stated upon returning to the kitchen with Assam to brew up their own tea. "You can go back if you want; I will make your tea."

"No. I want to stay with you," replied Assam.

"Okay," Darjeeling replied, smiling sweetly at Assam, who responded with her own smile. "I will be making some Darjeeling tea, naturally."

"What did you make for the others?" Assam asked.

"Just normal black tea," Darjeeling responded. "Oh! It did not occur to me to ask them if they wanted something different!"

"This tea does not have enough sugar!" Katyusha yelled irately from the other room.

"I put two sugars in there," Darjeeling sighed, hearing Katyusha call Nonna's name, despite that she was right next to her.

"I will get the sugar," stated Nonna, reaching into the Pravda bag and pulling out a packet of sugar. She shook it and heard a satisfying sound, ripped the top off and then let the grains of sugar rumble into the tea, like a very small avalanche. She stirred the tea with a spoon for a bit before giving it back to Katyusha.

"Thank you, Nonna," Katyusha replied, and then she started drinking the tea again. Instead of creating a pained, contorted face, it lit up with joy. That was an indication to Nonna that she was successful with her task.

Assam exited the room with Darjeeling; they were both equipped with their own cups of tea. Assam made her way to the laptop that was sat on a table. "Can I use your laptop, Darjeeling, please?" she asked.

"Of course," Darjeeling replied, watching her friend bend over to pick it up. She made some room for herself on the other table (the one with all of the food on it), sat down and then turned it on.

"The first time I ever went to a party, I got very drunk," Erika stated nonchalantly. "I was – and I still am – way below the legal age for drinking alcohol. It did not stop some of our… more adventurous students from getting a few bottles of German beer. She went up to me and then said, 'hey, Erika, do you want some of this?', shook the bottle around in my face, and then I replied, 'yes, why not?' That was a big mistake."

"Ooo, what happened?" Kay asked.

"I started passionately kissing a lamppost. I thought it was a tank, which is bad in itself, but, well, a video of me doing that ended up circulating around the school. It is a pain that I will never forget, as I was relentlessly teased for quite some time."

"Was the lamppost a good kisser?" Kay asked, despite Darjeeling's protests by jabbing her in the ribs.

Darjeeling feared that the girl would not take it lightly and would choose to detonate like the so-called "Tommy cooker", but Erika laughed lowly instead. It was a slow laugh that dripped of sarcasm. "You are funny, Kay. Just know that if I ever find you kissing a lamppost, then I will get that video a billion views. You are nothing more to me than just another target to crush under the treads of my Tiger II, if you make it so."

"Whoa, cool it down, tiger, I just wanna know. Sheesh," Kay replied, faking offence.

"To answer your question… yes. I have never kissed a boy before, but after kissing that lamppost, I think it set a pretty good precedent for my future," Erika responded; it seemed she was having trouble getting the words out, probably because it was so cringeworthy. "Maho forgave me for getting red lipstick all over the lamppost."

"Would you forgive me if I got red lipstick all over you?" Kay whispered in Darjeeling's ear, which made her momentarily freeze. Kay could hear the sweat dripping onto the floor from her forehead.

"K-Kay… that… that was a bit loud," Darjeeling whispered back, looking at Erika's half shocked and half intrigued expression. She turned her head to Nonna and Katyusha; Nonna had chosen to ignore that, and Katyusha was too busy sipping her tea to care.

"But would you?" Kay was considerably more quiet this time.

"Hm." Erika looked at both of them, and instantly pulled out her phone. Maho must know about this.

"M-Maybe…," Darjeeling stuttered, pulling on her collar with one finger to let out the hot air that had suddenly appeared as a result of the sudden rise in her body temperature. Her skin suddenly stopped ventilating and instead let out gallons of sweat…

"Haha! It was just a joke!" Kay tried to recover the situation, but she felt it was a bit too late for that. "Y'know, I said the same thing with Alisa!"

"And how did she react?" Darjeeling asked.

"With a slap," Kay responded, rubbing her cheek. "Alisa is a nice girl, but she is opposed against anything like that. I think she's hiding something – she's insecure!"

"Bring it out of her!" Katyusha suddenly stated, droplets of tea flying in every direction as she rocked back and forth. "When Pravda students are hiding important things, we beat the information out of them! Don't we, Nonna?"

"Yes," Nonna replied, even though she knew it was blatantly false. "We… get the information out of them."

"What I'm saying is, you should beat Alisa with a stick!" Katyusha yelled excitedly. "That will make her talk!"

On the table, Assam was sitting all alone, and had just entered into her tank's garage on the famous tank game. Katyusha had noticed this and stood up, marching over to Assam. "I wanna play!"

"Oh?" Assam gasped. Somebody was talking to her. "If you want," she responded.

Nonna looked at the expression Katyusha was giving her, and then realised she wanted her laptop. Inside the large bag, amongst everything else, was a red laptop that was Katyusha's "tanking machine", as she had called it. She took it out and handed it to Katyusha, who had almost stepped on Kay's foot whilst trying to walk over to Nonna.

"Thank you, Nonna. It is time for all of those tanks to die!" She rushed over to the table, almost tripping over Kay's leg. She set the laptop on the table rather forcefully, facing her soon-to-be platoonmate. "We're going to destroy them, aren't we, Assam?"

"I hope," she replied. She wasn't exactly confident, especially if she was about to play with Katyusha.

"It's not 'I hope'," the Pravda girl growled, "It's 'I WILL'!"

"O-Okay," Assam murmured, a bit thrown off after having her eardrums perforated by the angry little woman. "Let's just play."

"I don't like videogames," Erika stated. "Maho once invited me to play this simulator where we played as World War II soldiers, and after dying five times without being able to see anything, I quit."

"That is a shame," Darjeeling said. "I like to immerse myself in the occasional game." She got up and walked over to Assam. "So, what tank will you be playing today?"

"The Churchill Mk. VIII," replied Assam, "the one with the 95mm gun. Isn't she a beauty?" she asked, pointing at the tank on the screen.

"I'm playing the IS-3!" Katyusha announced to Darjeeling with a grin.

"The Russian tanks are fun, but I prefer the British, naturally," responded Darjeeling.

Erika and Kay got up with the rest of the girls. "You should try the Tiger II," suggested Erika.

"My IS-3 will destroy your Tiger II any day!" replied Katyusha, clenching her fist and waving it around in the air. "The D25-T cannon's shell will leave no survivors!"

The platoon was eventually set up after Erika started explaining the configuration and performance of the Tiger II in comparison to the IS-3. It was not really a fair comparison, because the IS-3 did not even see action until after World War II ended. Katyusha's playstyle was very aggressive in comparison to Assam, who liked to stay back and snipe with her cannon.

Some time later, the moon had risen into the sky, and Assam and Katyusha were still playing. Katyusha's tank was currently suffering from a violent ammo rack detonation. The girl sat in her seat, frowning and grumbling. Meanwhile, Assam was having a good time in her Churchill, destroying all of the inferior Axis tanks.

Assam blinked as her Churchill casually shook off the impact of a German 88mm gun. The mark of where the shot had hit was permanently imprinted onto the thickest part of her tank's armour, and then the infantry tank retaliated with a 95mm high explosive shell. The vehicle that had fired at her was a halftrack improvised to carry a flak gun. Expectedly, the vehicle went up in flames, and Assam smiled evilly.

"Why did you have to do that?" asked Erika, sounding like she was in pain. Suddenly, her phone vibrated in her hand and she brought it up. She was thinking it was time to go, so she would entertain this last message before she made some dumb excuse to leave. Her face visibly lightened when she discovered that it was a message from Maho. She scanned the contents of the message. Apparently, Koume had gotten her head stuck in a fishbowl and needed Erika's help to get it off. She did not want anyone else to know about this incident, and specifically asked for Erika's assistance.

It sounded incredibly stupid, and it was, but Erika was dangerously close to dropping onto the floor and falling asleep anyway. It would be best for her to go and help Koume with this fishbowl thing, and she didn't even need to make an excuse herself! She exaggeratedly yawned and said, "Apparently one of my classmates has gotten her head stuck in a fishbowl."

"What?" Kay asked. She was sitting on a pillow on the floor, and was beginning to fall asleep as well. "Fishbowl?"

"…Yes," Erika answered, and then realised that that sounded even stupider than what she could have originally said. "It's late, okay? I need to go."

"We hope you had fun, Erika," said Darjeeling, whom Kay was leaning on. "Good luck getting that fishbowl off your friend's head!"

"It was fun. Goodnight," replied the girl from Kuromorimine. Nonna offered a wave to her, but the girls playing the tank game said nothing. Without speaking further, she left the room, took a deep breath, and then began to walk back to her ship. It was lucky that Kuromorimine's ship was also docked there in anticipation of an upcoming practice battle.

Even though Erika hadn't gotten much information out of the girls, she had actually ended up enjoying the party, and wondered if Darjeeling would invite her to more parties. She would like that very much.

Meanwhile, as Katyusha's tank got ht by an ugly brute of a 203mm shell, she had had just about enough of this stupid game, and she expressed this with a loud shout. "I've had enough of this!" she exclaimed, slamming the laptop's lid, hopping off the chair, and then walking over to Nonna. "They killed all of my tanks!" she whined, placing herself next to Nonna and growling.

Assam quietly logged off the game, turned off the computer, and then turned her chair in the direction of the other girls. She observed the scene; Nonna was trying to calm the irate Katyusha down, and had her hand placed on her head, softly stroking it; Kay was asleep on Darjeeling, and Darjeeling appeared to be barely awake.

"I… just… wanted to blow up some Tigers," Katyusha murmured, little tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. Clearly, she took the game very seriously, much like Assam. The trail that the tears left on her cheeks shone in the light, and her quivering mouth produced nothing more than a few incomprehensible murmurs.

"It's okay," Nonna replied, her voice as soft and sweet as an angel's. "I'll get you tucked into bed, and- oh…"

"Sleepover!" Katyusha interjected. "Darjeeling?"

"Yes?" the girl responded, beginning to feel the tides of sleep deprivation crash against her.

"Nonna would like a sleepover, because it's too late for us to go back outside now," explained Katyusha, trying to put the focus off herself. "We already have all of the stuff to sleep in!"

"Just say yes," Kay, who had since woken up because of Katyusha, whispered into Darjeeling's ear. "It's not worth arguing with her."

"Okay. Assam, would you like to stay as well?" Darjeeling asked whilst pondering where everyone could sleep.

"Of course!" Assam responded excitedly. "I will need to get my futon." Assam's eyes gleamed with joy, and she immediately exited the room. All the way back to her dorm, she had a smile plastered on her face, and with that, she carried some hope that everything could be all right after all.

"Did you see how happy she was?" Darjeeling asked. "She did say she wanted to have a sleepover."

"Yes! We will all sleep together!" Katyusha announced, seemingly having forgotten the earlier incident with the game. She got the large bag, unzipped it, and then pulled out two red futons, both embellished with a yellow Pravda logo.

Nonna took both of them, and neatly laid them out, making not to place them over any pieces of food. Once the mattress was set, she got the duvet and pillows and placed them there as well. "The futons are ready. I am going to sleep," she stated. She took her green jacket off, revealing the red shirt that she was wearing. "Good night," she continued, and then promptly fell asleep.

"That was quick," Kay stated. "Can we sleep, too…?" Her voice trailed off sleepily.

"I would love that," Darjeeling replied. A small smile beset upon her lips as she watched Katyusha slipping into her futon.

When Assam returned with her sky-blue futon, she tracked the room with her tired eyes, and noticed that Darjeeling and Kay had disappeared. Thinking nothing of it, she set herself next to Katyusha and Nonna, and she fell asleep very quickly after.

Kay and Darjeeling had relocated elsewhere. Darjeeling had her hair down, was wearing a black nightgown and had her head on the pillow. Kay was lying next to her, and had not dressed for the occasion. There really was no other space – that was their excuse…

"How is your dorm so big?" Kay asked, looking around the bedroom. There were lots of tank models dotted around the room, and they were not all British, surprisingly.

"I'm the commander," Darjeeling replied. "That means I get more room for some reason. I'm not complaining."

Darjeeling wasn't entirely sure why she was sleeping in her bed with Kay; she knew it was wildly inappropriate, but she tried to justify it by telling herself that friends sleep in the same bed platonically. As expected, Kay did not object to this.

"I wish that applied to me," Kay responded. She let out a loud yawn and then continued with: "I'm going to try and sleep now. Goodnight, Darjeeling."

"Goodnight," Darjeeling responded, and then shut her eyes. Soon after, all she could hear was the ticking of a clock, and the soft breathing of the girl lying next to her. Even if she wanted to sleep, the thoughts she was having about her friendship with Kay clouded her mind, and kept her awake. Kay had made the protests about there being nowhere to sleep – and it was true; there was no space on the floor after Katyusha, Nonna and Assam took their positions.

It had only escalated to this level when Kay nonchalantly suggested that they sleep in the bedroom – and based on her comment earlier in the night, moving on from a slightly promiscuous lamppost, Darjeeling feared the worst. Of course, the St. Gloriana girl said yes, and here they were. Nothing bad was happening, of course. Just as long as nobody saw-

"Darjeeling?" The door of the room crept open and light threatened to shine itself upon Darjeeling's exhausted features. Her eyes shone in it, and she could see Katyusha standing in the room. "I can't sleep," she stated. "I want some tea."

 _Are you kidding me?_ Darjeeling thought, grimacing slightly. She wondered if Katyusha would notice if she and Kay were sleeping in the same bed together. "Tea at this time?" she whispered, taking great care not to wake up Kay. "Isn't it a bit late?"

"It's never late for tea!" Katyusha announced, perhaps with a bit too much vigour in her voice.

"Okay…," Darjeeling sighed, grabbing the covers, taking them off her, getting up, and then walking out of the room. Katyusha gleefully followed after her. Both of the commanders walked into the kitchen, and Darjeeling started preparing the tea.

"Why are you sleeping in your bed with Kay?" Katyusha asked like a confused, innocent child.

Darjeeling shot a quick look over to Nonna, and realised that Katyusha had basically combined their futons. They were sleeping in the same bed, so to say. "Why were you sleeping with Nonna?"

"Uh… I don't have to say anything to you!" Katyusha replied, flustered. Sometimes she felt like a baby for relying on Nonna for so long. "It's just that… Nonna makes me feel safe and protected. I… rely on her a lot," Katyusha continued, with her voice inaudible – it seemed to Darjeeling that she had trouble talking about this subject; most likely because she was embarrassed. It was a shock to Darjeeling that she was saying _anything_.

"I understand," Darjeeling responded. "One of my friends relies on me a lot." She turned around to start stirring Katyusha's tea. "I get by with a little help of my friends."

Katyusha wasn't entirely sure what she meant, so she simply stood there, waiting for her tea.

"There was no space, so Kay had to sleep in my bed," Darjeeling said. She deemed the tea to be ready, so she grabbed it and carefully handed it to the small woman, who cupped the teacup with both hands.

"Thank you!" Katyusha, with a grin, immediately put the cup to her lips. A quick paddle of her tongue in the steaming hot liquid made her regret that decision, and she pulled back with a yelp. Surprisingly, the cup did not fall out of her hands.

Darjeeling watched the scene with a straight face. "Wait until it cools down, Katyusha," she stated.

"Of course!" Katyusha responded, speaking with her burnt tongue out. "I know that!" She looked away, and then said: "Goodnight, Darjeeling."

"Goodnight," Darjeeling replied, watching the childlike woman hobble off to her futon. She wondered how long Nonna had put up with Katyusha. Life would certainly be a lot more interesting if her platoon had its own Katyusha.

Tiredly, the girl walked back into her bedroom. Kay was still sleeping there soundly, so Darjeeling softly got back into bed and pulled the covers over herself. Luckily, all of the ships would still be docked for a while, so Kay wouldn't be going just yet. As she closed her eyes, she wondered what would be waiting for her the next day.

 _This took a really long time to make; easily more than a month, at least. But I think it was worth the wait, because this chapter is really long. And if you've gotten this far somehow, then thank you for reading my trash._


	3. Chapter 3

**St. Gloriana captures a spy**

 _There's a reason why this chapter took so long to come out. Please don't expect much from it, because I think this is one of my worst works yet. But I needed to finish this up and so, here you go._

It had been a long trip, but it was going to be worth it. Yukari Akiyama, donning the blue St. Gloriana uniform (which was two sizes too big for her, but still), a black tie, a black skirt, and some tights, had made her way onto the St. Gloriana ship, despite looking a bit too small for her outfit. Her hands closed around the side of a wall as she approached the school. The oversized arms of her blue jumper hit the side of the wall due to the momentum, and Yukari felt the sight of a girl looking at her.

Her eyes shifted to the right slightly and, on some tan steps leading up into the reception of the school, amongst the random students walking around, sat a brunette girl with a braid placed on her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes at Yukari, and nudged the shoulder of a ginger-haired girl next to her, and then whispered to her. However, she made it very obvious that she was whispering to the girl.

Yukari decided to ignore it and simply continue on ahead. She could feel the gaze of the girl on her as she walked up the steps; at which point, the brown-haired tank enthusiast reconsidered breaching into the school. She had told herself that she would do this; she would do it for her beloved _Nishizumi-dono_ , and… no. She had to do it. Her team was counting on her.

All she had to do was collect information about St. Gloriana's tank doctrine, their strategies, loadout, whatever, and then leave. It surely was not going to be a challenging task… she needed to locate the room "E4", as that was where the information was going to be displayed – in a presentation, with one of the St. Gloriana _Senshadou_ team members leading it. It was at 10 AM, so Yukari still had a few hours to spare.

Yukari was standing near the door, contemplating what she needed to do. Then, she felt a hand land on her shoulder, and she reflexively turned around, only to see one of the girls from earlier. The ginger-haired girl greeted her. She was small and cute, and had her hair put into a braid. "Are you new?" she asked innocently. Her eyes nervously quickly darted behind her; it was a quick action, but Yukari, being a master of espionage, noticed this.

"Yes," Yukari replied calmly, internally screaming. What if she knew she was a spy, and was just luring her into a trap? Well, that would be the strangest thing ever, and she highly doubted that to be the case.

"You need a timetable," said the orange-haired girl. She thankfully produced a timetable from behind her, as if she were already holding in her other hand. "Here you go."

"T-Thanks," replied Yukari, slightly sceptical from the convenience of the situation. "I'll be going now." She turned around to leave, but a hand was forcefully placed on her collar. The girl's knuckles went a pale white as she grabbed onto Yukari's collar, and the tank enthusiast soon found herself to be moving backwards instead of forwards.

"Wha?!" she uttered, stumbling and turning around. The ginger-haired girl was standing behind the brunette girl that she saw earlier. The brunette's arm was extended, and she slowly withdrew it, smiling at Yukari innocently.

"We have a lesson now," Rukuriri said sweetly. "I'm Rukuriri, and this is Orange Pekoe," she continued, pointing to the ginger girl as she spoke. "We're in your class, so we've been told to... guide you, since you're new."

"Okay," Yukari replied neutrally, rubbing the back of her neck, trying to soothe the pain that Rukuriri had caused by grabbing her collar. Her nails were _sharp_. She followed the two girls into the St. Gloriana halls, watching them talk amongst each other whilst they "guided" her to the classroom. This all seemed a bit too convenient for Yukari; these two random girls had approached her and then told her she was going to some random class.

Eventually, the trio reached the classroom. Rukuriri opened the door for Orange Pekoe, letting her walk into the classroom, and then held it open for Yukari, whom she smiled at when she entered.

"Just sit anywhere," Rukuriri said after Yukari entered, and so she did. There were only a few students in the classroom, and they all gazed at the new student inquisitively when she entered. Yukari looked down at the floor in retaliation, and chose her own seat at the far left of the class, behind the door.

The room was quite barren compared to Ōarai's classrooms. Sky blue walls, but with only one poster in the room: which was an advertisement for the _Senshadou_ afterschool club. It had a small photo of a blonde-haired girl with a French braid on it; Yukari felt like she recognised the girl somehow.

Rukuriri and Orange Pekoe were sitting together, though it could be disputed that they were sitting in separate seats. Rukuriri had successfully infiltrated Orange Pekoe's personal space, and they were basically touching shoulders. Rukuriri seemed to be glowing with a high amount of glee because of this, and especially because Orange Pekoe did not seem to mind the contact. Her head was turned left, and her eyes were focused on looking outside of the window absentmindedly, much to Rukuriri's chagrin. She longed for those eyes to be looking into hers, instead of staring at a pigeon which was pecking at crumbs on the floor outside.

… So much for "guiding" her.

The teacher was sitting at the desk already. She had light brown wavy hair, and from what Yukari could see, was wearing a white blouse with a necklace. She did not seem to notice the new girl's entrance, and if she did, she found her book more interesting than inquiring about Yukari's existence.

A few minutes later, more students began to fill up the classroom, each one each having their own gossip to talk about, and Yukari wondered if she was being talked about, since she was being looked at a lot.

"Okay class; it's time to begin," said the teacher, putting her book down. "Last week, you were all working on your movies. Grab your things, and then you can continue. But I have to take the register first." The teacher produced a clipboard from the desk that she was sitting at, and started with the top of the register.

Yukari deactivated her brain at this time, since she never suspected to actually be on the register. But, apparently she was, and Yukari felt herself being stared at by everyone in the class as her name was softly called by the teacher. The girl blinked twice, sat up in her chair, and quietly said, "yes" with a deflated voice.

If she wasn't being talked about before… well, she definitely was now.

"Now, go and make your films!" The teacher rose from the desk and punched the air, speaking with an aura that inspired enthusiasm from the students.

Yukari rose from her desk after all the others had raced out of the classroom. Only two other girls remained in the classroom after: Orange Pekoe and Rukuriri. When the latter rose from her seat, so did her friend. Rukuriri strutted over to Yukari, and happily informed her that she would be participating in the film.

Yukari tagged along with the two girls, and as soon as they exited the classroom, Rukuriri spoke up. "We're filming it in my room," she stated. "It's a drama about a teenage girl who is in love with another girl." Rukuriri and Orange Pekoe turned around to see Yukari. "We've been practicing at our roles," continued Rukuriri, who shakily offered her hand to Orange Pekoe.

"We're doing pretty well!" replied Orange Pekoe, softly taking Rukuriri's hand. The braided brunette replied with an "ulp" and a splatter of a slight red to her cheeks. "This is us getting into character," added the orange one.

Yukari decided not to reply, but she noticed that Rukuriri was getting really, really into the role – more than Orange Pekoe could probably ever hope to. Rukuriri was a pretty good actor…

Yukari stayed behind the two girls, who were still holding hands. They were walking in companionable silence, and Yukari did not want to ruin the moment for them – even if they were acting. Yukari's head turned every single time they went around a corridor, in search for the mysterious room "E4". Eventually, the girls exited out of the school and onto the deck. Yukari smiled as she felt the fresh breeze tickle her body. Her oversized school uniform fluttered in the wind, along with her fluffy hair.

Rukuriri and Orange Pekoe were walking into the dorms, clearly. They entered the dormitories and Yukari followed them in. During their travel into the dorms, Rukuriri whispered something to Orange Pekoe, and the ginger-haired girl immediately walked ahead of them in response.

"What's she doing?" asked Yukari, adjusting her speed to match Rukuriri's, who had suddenly slowed down to a crawl for some reason.

"She's, ah, going on ahead, to see if the film equipment is there," Rukuriri responded, obviously caught off guard by Yukari's question. Internally, the brunette thought, _please don't screw this up, Pekoe_.

 _What?_ thought Yukari, though she decided not to question it. Her confusion was displayed with a slight frown and doubt in her eyes that questioned if any of this was real.

Orange Pekoe's pacing had turned into running, and after almost colliding with a student who was casually walking down the hall (who was met with a rushed apology before Pekoe set off again), she was standing at the door to Rukuriri's room, with an off-colour key clenched in her right fist.

Every time she looked at the key as it normally sat on her desk, she remembered what Rukuriri had told her when she had first graced her with the key by forcing it into her hand on a Sunday morning: _"You can come in any time you want,"_ which was accompanied by a rather indecent smirk. Orange Pekoe had not taken her up on her offer, because Rukuriri would do it for her, but she wondered what Rukuriri would do if she visited herself.

She was getting side-tracked, and Rukuriri had told her to be quick. She rammed the key into the keyhole and unlocked the door, walking into the dorm. She had been in here multiple times before as Rukuriri had taken her into there. It always had the pungent smell of perfume and other 'smelly' products. Rukuriri had told her to check if the box of equipment was still there. The box of equipment, containing, amongst other classified things, the film equipment.

"Of course it's here," Orange Pekoe questioned. "Why wouldn't it be here?" She went to leave the room, but before she did, she spotted a yellow sticky note on the desk next to the door. She was feeling particularly nosy, so she decided to look.

She read: "Make sure the things are taken out of the box before the inspectors come. Also, get the roses for Pekoe 3". The girl raised an eyebrow, but decided not to question it. After exiting the dorm, she saw Rukuriri and Yukari walking down the hall.

The two girls walked up to Orange Pekoe, and Rukuriri almost instantly asked, "is the equipment in there?" The tone of her message was packaged with an uncomfortably prominent level of urgency.

"Yes," Orange Pekoe replied. "Why is it so important?"

"Look, I'll show you later," Rukuriri spoke quietly. "It's not important now." Rukuriri grabbed Yukari's hand and proudly announced, "this is my dorm room! Come in!" With that, she opened the door and grabbed Yukari, who grimaced in her forceful embrace. She was just about to push Yukari in, but she heard a familiar voice sound from behind her, and it made her freeze completely.

"Rukuriri," spoke Darjeeling, walking up to the braided girl from her rear, "what are you doing?"

Rukuriri swore under her breath and took her hands off the girl, turning around. "I-"

"Film studies, I presume," replied Darjeeling, looking around, her expression giving off clearly aroused suspicions. Orange Pekoe had told her about the film studies the day before, which involved making a film.

"Yes," Rukuriri responded calmly, internally screaming. She nudged Orange Pekoe with her elbow and continued with, "why don't we start, Orange Pekoe? Into the dorm we go, hehe!"

"Stop," Darjeeling firmly said, which made Rukuriri stop in her tracks as Orange Pekoe tilted her head in confusion. "Come over here," she said to Yukari, beckoning her over with a hand.

Yukari gulped and walked over to the Senshadou team commander, her oversized sleeves swinging back and forth as she shook.

"You're not from St. Gloriana, are you," Darjeeling said. "Rukuriri, did you try to kidnap another student again?"

"It was her fault for making herself an easy target," Rukuriri replied defensively. "Right, Pekoe?"

Orange Pekoe declined to comment.

Darjeeling sighed. "I think we will be having a discussion about this later. Regardless, I have a delivery for you – it was sent to the _Senshadou_ club for some reason. It's a… bouquet of roses."

Rukuriri gasped and then grabbed the bouquet. "Y-Yes!" She turned around and ran into her dorm room, and then emerged out of it a few seconds later.

"I'm Darjeeling, the St. Gloriana _Senshadou_ team's commander. Why don't we discuss your visit over some tea?" Darjeeling offered, smiling at Yukari.

Meanwhile, Rukuriri and Orange Pekoe watched this conversation, with the former clenching her fists and growling. "I will capture and interrogate a spy one day, Pekoe. I will." Then, she gripped the tie of her ginger-haired friend and pulled her into the dorm, slamming the door behind her. Orange Pekoe made no protest, even as she locked the door with a resounding click.

Darjeeling decided not to fear the worst about the door situation.

* * *

Yukari's issue had been solved – and she had not been allowed to stay for the upcoming presentation. Miho Nishizumi, Saori Takebe, and Noriko Isobe were crammed into a small, slightly uncomfortable-looking speedboat, which was sitting at the water's edge. Darjeeling watched with a cuppa in her hand, as Yukari boarded the speedboat, and took turns to hug her friends in between Darjeeling's own sips of tea.

Yukari and Darjeeling had had a brief conversation, and talking about Yukari's status as a "spy" (admittedly a bad one, to be honest) made Darjeeling very happy that Rukuriri, self-proclaimed bounty hunter, had not trapped the girl and done whatever she was going to do to her.

The rumbling engine of the speedboat was soon quiet as the boat took off to its destination: Ōarai's school carrier. Meanwhile, Darjeeling had some covering up to do, to ensure that Rukuriri didn't get expelled for conspiring to kidnap and hold a student hostage, or whatever she was going to do.

That girl had some serious problems.

 _I hope that wasn't too painful to read. The upcoming chapters will be planned better and will hopefully be better as a result._


	4. Chapter 4

**Darjeeling visits a festival maid café**

 _It's been almost a bloody year, but I never forgot about this story. I had a lot of issues with the expressed dates creating plot holes and thinking of ideas in general. But now, I have a slightly more solidified plan as to where this can go._

 _I had to remove the dates from previous chapters and change some things to make the story work. The most important information is that the story now begins in October, instead of January._

With an arm wrapped around a Boko doll, Miho sent off the message. She put her phone on the desk and peered once again at the plan on her table; outlining the schedule of the October Ōarai School Festival, to celebrate the coming of the next season... and exams. Regardless of Miho's _Senshadou_ duties, Anzu had decided to appoint her as head of… something. Maybe it was head of advertisement, which is why she asked Darjeeling to come. It was more of an apology for having to deal with Yukari than anything else, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Miho didn't even know what she was the head of! Maybe all the stress from the midterms was clouding her memory. She sighed – this was going to be an interesting event.

* * *

Darjeeling was completing her daily listening of "God Save the Queen," and she was enjoying this moment a bit too much. As she raised her arm and took a white teacup to her mouth, her 'session' was interrupted by a loud, excited knocking at the door. In contrast to her calm, British culture appreciating session, the rambunctious hammering of the door shocked her, and droplets of her perfect tea ended up on the floor after she jerked in reaction.

Calmly placing the teacup on the placemat, she got up and walked over to the door, frustrated that anyone would interrupt this. Opening the door, she was met with an ecstatic Kay, who instantly opened up her arms and went in for the kill.

"It's been so long, Darjeeling!" she said happily, trapping Darjeeling in an American style hug. Kay seemed to think an American style hug consisted of asphyxiating her partner until they begin screaming for their endangered life.

"It hasn't been that long!" responded Darjeeling, returning the hug. Instantly, her nose caught the alluring scent of an expensive perfume; although it smelled nice, its strength threatened to choke Darjeeling and make her topple over. To add to the pain, she seemed to only use it when she was with Darjeeling. Was that a good or bad thing?

Anyhow, Darjeeling was not normally a forgetful person – the fact that she forgot that one of the most important people in her life would be visiting her was a rather unsettling thought. Maybe she truly was drinking too much tea, and it was messing with her brain. Spending hours on Facebook doing those "What Kind of Person Are You, Based on Your Favourite Tea?" tests was probably the culprit, actually.

"Are you ready for the festival? I sure am," Kay said, stepping into the room. She was wearing her usual uniform, added to with a fluffy white scarf and a coat in order to combat the weather. The coat was a dark military green, and had a white star on the arm.

Darjeeling had completely forgotten about the event; her and Kay had not really talked about it since she invited her, even though it was only a few days ago. Well, she was preoccupied with schoolwork, and it was piling on her like her infinite dreams about Kay. Err, she probably shouldn't mention that.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming – or that this festival was happening?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise!" Kay responded.

"Admittedly, I have not had the event on my mind for a few days," spoke Darjeeling. "I really should have a shower, and then I'll be ready within twenty minutes. You can sit down. Watch some television, or go through one of my many books." Darjeeling then quickly walked out of Kay's sight, and a few moments later, Kay heard the sound of running water.

It did not take long for Kay to start connecting "shower" with "Darjeeling," and the result was very interesting. She sat on the sofa, and slumped over. She had had a long and tiring day, and had to make an excuse to Alisa as to why she was going out. The combination of the ticking clock in the room, accompanied by the comfortably serene sound of water spraying, created a lullaby that helped to lull her into an increasingly deep tired feeling.

About thirty minutes later, Darjeeling emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed in a rather simple combination of a dark blue sweater and a long black skirt, complete with thick black tights, to shield her from the weather. She wore a scarf round her neck, adorned with the colours of the Union Jack. She neared Kay, peering down on the woman who was sleeping soundly on her sofa. Her light, soundless breathing, coupled with the rise and fall of her chest with every breath, dared Darjeeling to lie with her, and spend the evening in sofa-related solace. Darjeeling felt herself become flustered at the thought, and in the midst of the sudden rise of steam from her, suddenly noticed how hot it was in the room. However, as appealing as this idea was, they had to leave.

She walked over to Kay, and softly said into her ear: "wake up." The girl shuddered a bit in response, and her eyes drowsily opened, and Darjeeling found herself lost in her eyes, until she rather unattractively put her hands to her eyes and rubbed them.

"I must have fallen asleep," replied Kay tiredly, setting herself up on the sofa. Her clothes were slightly dishevelled, so Darjeeling made sure to pat them down straight – consciously avoiding the chest area.

"It's okay," Darjeeling replied, smiling. She put forth a hand, and Kay graciously took it, standing up. "How are we even going to get there, anyway?"

"By boat, of course! How do you fancy a romantic ride in a boat?" Kay asked suavely.

"Well, as long as we arrive there dry, and in one piece, I don't mind it," Darjeeling replied. This was in line with Kay's normally crazy ideas, and as long as the ride wouldn't take umpteen hours, Darjeeling would be… fine with it?

"Wait, you actually agreed? Aren't you scared of us accidentally sailing to Korea, or being eaten by sharks?" Kay asked mischievously.

"Well, now that you mention those things, yes, I am scared," Darjeeling responded, frowning a bit.

"Hahaha! I'm just messing with you, darling," laughed Kay, patting Darjeeling on the back jovially. "The ship's not too far away. You'd be surprised with how modern ports are capable of taking supercarriers. With that being said, why do we all live on giant carriers, anyway?"

"Why not?" Darjeeling responded, walking over to the door. The two girls linked their arms, and they exited the room, and soon the ship.

"It just seems a tad unwieldy, if you get what I mean. Do you see the Americans putting their schools and entire living spaces on ships?"

"Nor do you see Britain doing it," replied Darjeeling. "It's good to be different, Kay. Also, why do you question that now? We've been in education for so long."

"Nobody ever questioned it," replied Kay, "so neither did I."

"Sometimes it's better not to question things," Darjeeling responded. "Just enjoy it while it lasts."

"Speaking of which, it's going to be one of the last school festivals we'll attend," sighed Kay.

"We'll enjoy it the most, then – together. Let's have a grand old time, yes?"

"Yeah!" Kay shouted, probably getting the attention of a few bystanders with her loudness.

The two girls kept walking rather jovially, but the American shook and her teeth clattered together.

"Kay, are you cold?" Darjeeling asked.

"Just a slight shiver; don't worry about i-" Kay was saying, but stopped upon feeling the warmth of soft, knitted wool drape her neck.

"There! Now you won't shiver." Darjeeling smiled warmly. "I should have made some tea for you – that would keep you very warm."

 _I already am warm – inside_ , Kay thought, smiling back at Darjeeling.

* * *

"Okay, we're here!" Kay announced, taking in the spectacle of the wonderful festival. Situated inside some of the classrooms and halls, the festival spanned quite widely, and this was supplemented by the many students and festive atmosphere. It felt like a huge party, and the joyous smile on Kay's face reflected how much she already loved the atmosphere.

"Where shall we go first?" asked Darjeeling, observing the splendour of the atmosphere. Everyone seemed happy, and that made her happy too.

"Well, there's a lot of events going on," Kay responded, "why don't we go and expl-"

"Hey, hey, hey!" barged in a girl, dressed in an intricate maid outfit. The black frills on her dress swung from side to side as she energetically approached the two girls. On her head was a white headdress, and strangely enough, an eyepatch on her face. Putting her hands together and bowing, she loudly pleaded, "please, please, please come to our café!"

"A café, huh? Fond of the magic of three, aren't you?" said Kay. "Well, I'm in the mood for some food, or something. How about you, Darjeeling?"

"I'm up for that," Darjeeling replied. "Please take us there," she asked the girl.

"Okay!" she enthusiastically responded. "Just follow me!" she continued, and started marching off.

The girl took them through the hallways and into a room. "Here you go!" she said, bowing her head. "Now, I must really go back and find some more customers! Farewell!" Then, she took off back into the halls, leaving scattered dust in her wake.

"Greetings, take a seat…" One of the attendants spoke; she was making a painful grimace. As to be expected, she was wearing an outfit fit for a maid, identical to all the others, but didn't look as good in it, due to her short stature.

"Mako, you need to show more enthusiasm! Lighten up!" said another girl on the other side of the room. Kay and Darjeeling sat down at a nearby table.

"It's too hot in this room," Mako complained. She produced a menu, and gently placed it on the girls' table. "Tell us when you're ready to order," she said.

"Well… this is unorthodox. They're all maids, right?" Darjeeling asked, looking at the tables dotted around the room, with a few maids acting as waiters. The room was relatively packed, so the operation looked to be a success. White cloths were draped over the tables, giving the classroom a more elegant, less scholarly feel. Despite that they were normal school tables, of course. The latter half of the room was hidden by a red curtain, which the maids would regularly enter into and exit.

"Have you never heard of a maid café?" asked Kay. "It's awesome!"

"You've been to one before?" asked Darjeeling.

"Well… no, but I've seen pictures of them."

I thought this sort of thing was more for guys…," Darjeeling replied.

"Nonsense! Why would it be? We can check it out too. Plus, you may have noticed that there are no guys here."

"Obviously." Darjeeling smiled, her eyes scanning the menu. "Why don't we get something now?"

Kay had her attention directed on the entrance. Another maid stood at the door going into the makeshift café; she bowed her head, and began to speak. "Welcome home, Mistress! Welcome to the _Senshadou_ Club Café! Would you like dinner, or…-"

"Dinner! I sure am starving," interrupted the girl hastily, smiling and nodding. "Come on, Naomi!"

"That's Alisa," muttered Kay under her breath. "Crap, not this again… anyway, yeah, why don't we get something?"

"It's not an issue," replied Darjeeling. She looked at the maid whose name was assumed to be Mako. "Can we order something now?"

Mako tiredly shuffled over to the couple. Going by the expression on her face and the deep purple bags hanging under her fatigued eyes, it seemed like she would prefer to be anywhere except here. "Yes, what do you want?" she asked, taking no care for professional diction.

"I know what you're gonna have," interjected Kay. In a playful but mocking British accent, the girl continued. "I'll have some Earl Grey tea, please." She attempted her best snooty voice.

"Actually, I will be going for something different this time," replied Darjeeling. "I'm being adventurous. A cappuccino, please."

 _A cappuccino?!_ thought Kay. "But aren't you either a coffee or tea lover… you can't be both, right?"

"It's time to find out," she replied.

"I'll have some American-style Coca Cola, please," said Kay, looking at the disinterested Mako.

Mako silently nodded, and then walked away from their table. She disappeared into the red curtain.

"Isn't this great?" Kay crossed her legs and leant back in the chair.

"After this, we will have to study harder than ever before," replied Darjeeling neutrally.

"Don't talk about things like that!" responded Kay.

"It's been on my mind a lot recently." Darjeeling sighed. "There's nothing else I would rather do than spend this time with you. When we leave school next year, things will be drastically different," she continued solemnly, lowering her head slightly.

"Don't think about it in that way," replied her partner; "think about all the new adventures you'll go on. Plus, don't you want to go to London? That would be an adventure, right?"

"You should come with me. It's one way to practice your English," Darjeeling said.

"You're much better at English than I'll ever be." For a moment after, Kay's eyes flashed with realisation. "Did you say… 'come with me?'"

"The crew likes you, don't they? Plus, the cost of going and staying in London… don't you want to come?"

"Of course! I would love to!" Kay smiled.

"We can think about it then, later down the line." Darjeeling smiled back.

Mako emerged from the red curtain, juggling a plate in each hand. She placed one on Kay's side, and one on Darjeeling's side.

The cappuccino was a brilliant mix of a rich brown and white, with a heart styled into the liquid. Although, the heart was a bit distorted and didn't really resemble a heart at all. Somebody with either no skill or no reason to care had decorated this cup, and it came out as bad as one would expect from this disappointing level of effort. Darjeeling internally shrugged at it.

"Great! I love Coca-Cola!" Kay grinned, and poured the fizzy drink into a glass. She shuffled closer into the table, and whispered to Darjeeling, "aren't the maids meant to interact with you and do cutesy things?"

"Seems like our assigned maid is defunct," Darjeeling whispered back, accompanied by a short chuckle.

"Yeah," Kay replied, sounding slightly deflated. Even if she had Darjeeling, she wanted to see the maids attempt to entertain them.

"Besides, I can be your maid." Darjeeling leant forward and winked. Then, she casually took a sip of the cappuccino, smugly looking into Kay's eyes all the while. "Mmm! This coffee, it's not too bad."

Kay could feel her face's shade travel across the visible light spectrum as her brain digested Darjeeling's previous comment. Attempting a façade of coolness, Kay laughed heartily. "Yeah, wouldn't that be great?"

Darjeeling raised an eyebrow, displaying her reaction to Kay's sudden odd shift in expressing herself. "Are you okay?"

Kay realised her short bout of odd behaviour may arouse suspicion, and got herself to calm down. "Of course."

The next step would be to turn that thought into a reality.

* * *

The maid café adventure had been a success. The two girls were outside again, feeling the chill slightly more than before. The stray hairs in Darjeeling's braid swung about lightly, stirred by a chilly breeze. The night was still young, and she was determined to make the most of it.

Kay was thinking about the possibility of going to London with Darjeeling (and the maid thing, of course). It was either that, or Darjeeling would be gone for a number of weeks… or even more. Regardless, they would probably be far away from each other, anyway. That would be an opportunity to stay close to her.

"Where shall we go next?" asked Kay, looking in all directions. There were so many possibilities. The brightness of the crowds had not died down, and Kay could feel herself wanting to explore like a small child. Saunders didn't really have events like these, and she always felt so happy engaging in a party or festival's lively spirit.

"Darjeeling!" called a voice, to which Darjeeling responded with "Yes?" inquisitively.

"Huh?" muttered Kay, watching a brunette and a shorter blonde, pale girl walk over to Darjeeling.

"So, you made it!" gleefully spoke the taller girl. From what Kay could remember, this one was Miho, commander of Ōarai's _Senshadou_ team.

"Of course. I am not one to miss extravagant events, and nor is my partner-in-crime, Kay," Darjeeling replied, motioning towards Kay, who seemed the awkward one in this conversation.

 _Partner-in-crime. Although not very Darjeeling-like, that one is good_ , Kay thought. "Yeah! I love a good festival!"

"Who doesn't?" responded Darjeeling. "This event in particular carries an air of spectacularism that I would be hard found to experience with similar gatherings."

"Oh, I don't think we've acquainted with each other before," Miho said. "This here is Alice," she continued, patting the smaller girl next to her on the shoulder. "She's an incredibly competent tank commander. A titan on the battlefield. Aren't you, Alice?"

"Yes," she meekly answered, and stuck out a hand to shake the newly met commanders.

Both Darjeeling and Kay accepted the handshakes. "So, what brings you here, Alice?" asked Kay.

"Miho invited me," Alice replied. Although she was willing to talk, she seemed the kind of person who would listen, rather than be the dominant force in a conversation.

"I was in charge of the maid café, which I heard you two went into. Taking a break right now. Was it good?" Miho asked.

"Our maid wasn't very good," Kay replied, to which Darjeeling nodded wordlessly. "She was short – deadbeat, didn't look like she wanted to be there."

Miho nodded. "That must be Mako. She can be a difficult one sometimes. I was doing the maid café before, but left to go explore with Alice. I tried to convince her to join in with me…"

"Didn't want to," Alice quietly said.

"You're not the kind of person to want to dress up, hmm? I think I would dress very well as a maid," Darjeeling stated.

Kay knew that statement would come into reality soon. Darjeeling's statement brought back the plotting about the maid dress.

"Well, we should continue exploring," Kay said to Darjeeling, facing the sudden silence in the conversation. Alice looked very uncomfortable, and was looking up at Miho.

"I suppose I may as well end my break now." Miho sighed inaudibly. "Come visit us in the café, okay?" With a wide smile on her face, she bade the two girls farewell, and they parted ways, with Alice clinging to her like how a young animal clings to its mother.

"Have I seen that girl before?" Kay asked herself, thinking aloud.

"I don't know," responded Darjeeling. "It is endearing how close she stayed to her, like Miho was protecting her."

"Why would she need protecting from us? We're not scary, are we?" asked Kay jokingly.

"I tend to look scary in the morning before my morning tea. Like a shark on the bounds between life or death; capriciously shuddering about, with a fisherman's harpoon in its head," replied Darjeeling.

Kay stopped. "What?"

"Did I say something bad?"

"It was a bit… uh… why a shark of all things? You think sharks are ugly?" Kay asked.

"It was the only thing I could think of. I have been hard-pressed for sayings recently. So, I've had to improvise."

 _Having no sayings is not a bad thing_ , Kay thought. Although endearing, it could get annoying at times.

"Let's just enjoy the rest of the night," Darjeeling continued.

Kay could agree to that.

* * *

"That was great!" Darjeeling happily said, an air of satisfaction buzzing warmly around her. She walked up to her room's door with Kay in tow, and yawned.

"What time is it?" Kay asked, lacking a watch on her wrist.

"9 PM, I think," Darjeeling responded.

"We were there for aaaages."

"It was only a few hours." Darjeeling inserted the key into the door, gripping the door handle, and then she opened the gateway into her room. She looked at Kay, pondering something. "Kay, do you want to spend the night? If you don't have anything you need to do in your own school…"

"Huh?" Kay was set back by the proposal.

"It's the weekend, after all. You can go back in the morning. Come on," Darjeeling continued, trying her best to convince the girl.

However, she was already sold. Exceedingly so. "Yes!" She jumped at the thought, literally.

"Then let's go!" Darjeeling entered the room, and so did Kay. After they shut the door, Darjeeling instantly let off her shoes and jumped onto the sofa, bouncing slightly. "I could really do with a rest after that. It is wise to rest after a good meal."

"It wasn't that tiring, was it? We didn't even eat anything," Kay replied.

"The meal was the event. It was exhilarating. Things are always so calm around here in St. Gloriana – I could really use some more excitement," Darjeeling replied, sitting up on the sofa and lying back. She crossed her legs, smiled at Kay, and patted the space next to her. "Why don't you rest with me for a bit?"

Kay too took off her shoes, leaving them by the entrance. She wordlessly sat next to Darjeeling, resting against her.

After a minute or two of contented, companionable breathing from both parties, Kay spoke up. "Do you want to do something… like play a game, watch TV?"

"This is fine," Darjeeling quietly responded, nestling herself in Kay's soft hair, and closing her eyes.

Both girls were asleep within ten minutes, sleeping soundly within each other's comfortable embrace.

 _I won't bother self-deprecating in this author's note. This chapter is short, but it's letting me get back into the swing of things. Expect more_ _soon!_

 _Thank you for reading._


	5. Chapter 5

**Darjeeling catches a thief**

"Darjeeling!" Then there was knocking at the door. The din from a girl hitting the door repeatedly with her fist woke the commander up, along with Kay, who seemed like she was about to slip off the sofa.

"How much did we sleep…?" Darjeeling mumbled, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. "Who is making all that noise?"

"Why isn't she answering?" asked a voice from the other side.

"How am I meant to know?" spoke another voice.

"It was a rhetorical question," replied the first voice. "Maybe she's asleep. It is pretty early, after all. Let's come back later."

"What was that about?" Darjeeling said, looking back to Kay.

"I have no idea," Kay responded. "Go back to sleep…," she groaned.

"Wait… today is the day that we begin making plans for that battle!" Darjeeling replied, sounding alarmed. "I need to make preparations!"

"Huh? Calm down. What battle? Why didn't you make preparations before?" Kay asked.

"I've been busy!" Darjeeling said, sounding anything but calm. She took a deep breath and returned to her normal demeanour in a matter of seconds. Although she could be overloaded sometimes, she could easily calm down, remarkably. "The battle I told you about a while ago."

"I thought you did that already. I was expecting you to tell me about it."

Darjeeling lowered her head, and appeared to be deep in thought, making no response.

"Uh… who are you going to plan the battle with?"

"My crew, of course," Darjeeling replied, raising her head. "The planning starts there, then we communicate with the other tank commanders."

"Wouldn't it be better to include them all in the first place?" Kay asked.

"Too many cooks spoil the broth," Darjeeling replied, raising a finger. "And my girls are all expert tacticians."

"So are mine!" Kay responded, trying to one-up her. "They're the best!"

"Right," Darjeeling smugly replied. She stood up from the sofa, and walked into the kitchen. "I should get myself ready for the day. I am going to prepare a cup of tea. Do you want one?"

"Yes, please," Kay replied, lying down on the sofa and dangling her leg over the edge.

"I expect that the girls who knocked on my door were Rukuriri and Pekoe. They always do it," Darjeeling explained, as she produced a cup, teabags, and a carton of milk. "Milk?"

"Yeah, thanks," Kay responded. "So, why does Rukuriri join you guys? She's not in your crew, is she?"

"She always follows where Pekoe goes. I'm not sure how they met, actually. So, Rukuriri has incorporated herself into our group, and we just accepted it."

"Sketchy," Kay replied. "Is there any particular reason why?"

"I have no idea," Darjeeling responded. "At first, Rukuriri wanted to braid her hair lots, which was odd in itself, but I think Pekoe likes getting her hair styled. I used to do it for her, but it turned out Rukuriri was an expert." Darjeeling placed a cup of tea on the table and gestured to it.

"Has she ever touched your hair?" Kay asked, gazing at the cup.

"Heavens, no!" Darjeeling recoiled, sounding disgusted. "She's an odd fellow. She will never touch my hair."

"Maybe she can give you cute pigtails!" Kay responded playfully. "Wouldn't you love that?"

"There is nothing that is akin to the French braid in terms of showing off one's elegance," replied Darjeeling, smiling.

Kay reached for the cup, grabbed it, slowly sipped it, and let out a deep content sigh. "Isn't this perfect?" She looked at Darjeeling, who was staring at the floor absentmindedly. Or so it appeared.

"Hey, Dar-"

"Kay, how would you like me to style your hair?" Darjeeling interrupted, suddenly full of ambition. In her pretty eyes was a picturesque vision: lit up like the glittering sea, with the ever-beating sun above it.

Kay was stolen by her eyes for a moment, as Darjeeling's question processed in her mind. As soon as it did, however, she snapped out of it. "H-Huh?! We never said anything about styling my hair!"

"In my mind, we did," Darjeeling responded liltingly, raising a finger with one impeccably manicured fingernail. "So…?"

 _She can't touch my hair! If she makes me look like a European aristocrat, rather than a freedom-loving member of Japanese society, I'll be a laughing stock!_ Kay thought, placing her hands in her hair and softly clinging to it protectively. "Is this what America would want?" she asked, her eyes wide and full of worry.

"...America?" Darjeeling tilted her head, furrowing her eyebrows. "I'll get my _tools_ ," she said, getting up and disappearing into her bedroom.

"Oh, no, no, no," Kay mumbled inaudibly. "If Alisa sees me, my life is over."

"Okay!" Darjeeling emerged from her bedroom, carrying an assortment of hairdressing tools. "Time to make you beautiful! Not that you were not already beautiful, of course," she excitedly expressed, giggling.

"Hey, Darjeeling, why don't we-" Kay started saying, attempting to defend her hair, but there was an incredible trumpeting at the door, as if the entire Wehrmacht had come back to life and started goose-stepping, right outside of Darjeeling's room.

"What on Earth is that?" Darjeeling asked, placing down her hairdressing tools and walking over to the door, opening it. What was revealed was a disheveled and red-faced Rosehip, who shook with every fibre of her overactive being.

"Darjeeling!" Rosehip stated firmly, pacing her dialogue in between gasps of air, "something terrible has happened!"

"What? What is it?" Darjeeling responded. "Come and sit down. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"No. There's no time," Rosehip replied urgently.

Kay looked at the two girls conversing, wiping sweat off her brow and sighing in relief. M _y hair isn't doomed after all_ , she thought.

"...Okay. So, what is the problem? Kay and I would be happy to help," Darjeeling said, motioning over to the girl who was sitting on the sofa.

"Some no-gooder stole my tank!" Rosehip growled, raising a fist and clenching it with the crushing force of a crocodile. "I was cleaning it and admiring its grandeur - as you do, naturally - I left to get something, and then it was gone!"

"How does someone _steal a tank_?" Kay interjected incredulously, raising a finger.

"Yeah, that's a good question. But you'll have to believe me, because it did happen," Rosehip responded, bending over and putting her hands on her knees, hyperventilating.

"Are you feeling okay?" Darjeeling asked.

"I had to sprint across the entire bloody school, Darjeeling," Rosehip responded, glaring straight into her eyes. "No, I am not feeling okay."

"We'll help you find your tank, okay?" Darjeeling looked back at Kay. "Are you up for it, Kay?" she continued, mouthing "help us."

"Yeah, sure," Kay responded. "It'll be an interesting morning, that's for sure."

"Okay, let's go!" Rosehip shot off, with an apparent newfound vigour that coursed through her veins. Darjeeling and Kay were left in her wake.

"Well, she's off," Kay remarked. "Are all of the people in your _Senshadou_ club crazy?"

"No," Darjeeling responded. "My two closest companions, Orange Pekoe and Assam, certainly are not crazy."

Wherever Assam currently was, she felt the pain of that statement in its whole.

"Let's go, then," Darjeeling continued. "We mustn't let Rosehip wait; she is very, very restless."

"I can tell," Kay muttered, getting up and joining Darjeeling.

Rosehip was waiting outside of the dorms, leaning against a wall. Her hair was caught in a warm breeze in the open air in the carrier. She was caught in a deep sigh when Kay and Darjeeling encountered her. "Oh, there you are!" She smiled, springing up. "You know, I wouldn't stay together so much… people are going to start saying things," she continued, letting her statement boil with a smug grin.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Kay retorted, raising her voice slightly. "Hey, is this gonna be another Alisa?" Kay growled, eyeing Darjeeling.

"Good grief… pay it no mind, Kay," Darjeeling replied. "Rosehip likes to joke a tad."

Rosehip appeared unfazed. "Alright! It's time for the hunt! Now, where would someone possibly hide a tank on this flattop?"

"Why don't we go around and ask some people?" Kay suggested.

"Great idea!" Rosehip replied. "I know exactly what we can do. We'll drive around and ask. To the hangar we go!" Without a pause, Rosehip darted off in the direction of the hangar (presumably).

"She's fast," Kay murmured in amazement as the hyperactive girl merely became a dot in her vision.

"Yes, and we'll have to walk quite far to get to the hangar," Darjeeling responded. "I hope she can be patient for a while."

"That's probably not happening," Kay said. "Hey, isn't she a commander? She doesn't seem like it to me."

"Well, she's commanding us, isn't she? Otherwise, we would not be walking across the carrier."

"She just seems a little bit too much," Kay responded. "Are you sure she's not high on caffeine or something?"

" _Caffeine_? Coffee?" Darjeeling retorted in disgust, stopping and looking at Kay. "What do you think we are, animals?"

"I go for a cup of coffee every morning," Kay replied. "How do you feel about that?"

"I pity your tastebuds, for they are undoubtedly of a lower quality than ours," Darjeeling said. "Clearly, I need to make you drink more tea."

Eventually, the two girls reached the hangar, where Rosehip was waiting. It was a large hangar, reminiscent of one that would house aircraft, but it was full of tanks instead. Tanks that were impeccably sorted into neat rows, without even a centimetre of error. Kay's eyes gleamed as she took in the sight of so many tanks. Many girls were situated on or next to the tanks, reviewing plans and chatting. As soon as Darjeeling made a single step into the hangar, along with her shadow being cast by the sun behind her, life as the girls knew it froze.

"Commander!" called many of them in unison, placing their hands on their foreheads in a collective salute.

"At ease, girls," Darjeeling spoke firmly. The girls instantly relaxed and returned to whatever they were doing before, as if Darjeeling had never existed in the first place.

"Um. What was that?" Kay asked, scratching her head.

"Discipline. They respect me," Darjeeling responded. "Don't your soldiers do that?"

"No… we are much more relaxed than that," said Kay.

Out of the corner of Kay's eye came a frustrated Rosehip. Her brown eyes glistened in the sunlight as she exited the shadow of the hangar. "Gods, I was waiting for you for so long," she growled, crossing her arms. "How long was that? An hour? We have work to do here!"

"More like 15 minutes," Kay muttered, rolling her eyes.

"You- what?!" Rosehip exasperatedly snarled. "I have a watch right here on my wrist," she continued, pulling back her sleeve to reveal a digital watch, "and you are questioning me?!"

"Calm down, calm down!" Darjeeling interjected, getting in between the two. "Rosehip, lead us to the vehicle we'll be using. I assume you will be the driver."

"Of course. Don't forget, I'm qualified to drive vehicles that are at least 20 tonnes!" Rosehip responded proudly.

"I will be the commander," Darjeeling added. "Kay, can you get in the turret with me?"

"Of course," Kay responded.

"Follow me," Rosehip said, motioning in front of her and beginning to walk. The two other girls followed her, to a wheeled vehicle that stood in the corner of the hangar, obscured by shadows. "Here we are!" Rosehip announced, beaming.

"What is it?" Kay asked, scratching her chin and studying the armoured car. On its chassis were four wheels, and what appeared to be the turret of a Valentine infantry tank. The vehicle was painted in a drab olive green, much like some of the other vehicles of St. Gloriana. The school's logo was adorned onto the side of the vehicle, as was standard with their line-up.

"It's an AEC Armoured Car Mk. I, of course!" Rosehip responded, patting the vehicle's side lovingly. "Three crew, Valentine turret, and a 2-pounder gun! Oh, isn't it beautiful?" Rosehip appeared to be in ecstasy simply by talking about the vehicle.

"Hey, isn't that gun a little small?" Kay asked, raising an eyebrow at the vehicle's armament.

"Watch what you say!" Rosehip angrily pointed at Kay. "I'll have you know that there are blasphemy laws!"

"Not in Japan, Rosehip," Darjeeling responded knowingly. "We have been over this."

"If you said that in the United Kingdom, you'd probably be arrested…," Rosehip growled, turning around and crossing her arms.

"Somehow I don't think that's the case…" Kay sighed.

"Okay, let's get in, then," Darjeeling said, clambering onto the vehicle and opening the turret hatch.

Kay joined her, and soon enough they were tightly packed into the AEC's turret compartment. Rosehip opened the driver's hatch and got into the seat, starting the engine and revving it to produce a mighty growl.

"Forwards!" Rosehip shouted, accelerating the vehicle forwards. It bolted out of the hangar, barely leaving any time for the other students to get out of the way. One girl yelled angrily at the AEC as she jumped past it to avoid getting run over.

"I expect there'll be a complaint about that," Darjeeling moaned. "Hey, Rosehip, be more careful!" she shouted over the loud drone of the vehicle's engine.

"Darjeeling, this is a horrible idea. We'll end up dead - or worse - with this madwoman driving us," Kay whispered horribly, as the armoured car narrowly missed a wall.

"We will live, Kay," Darjeeling reassured her. "Come on, let's unbutton the hatch." Darjeeling opened up the two-piece hatch and turned out of it, feeling the fresh breeze on her face as Rosehip aimlessly drove around. Kay too rose out of the hatch, resting on the back of the turret. "Rosehip!"

"Yes?" The vehicle came to a sudden stop, and skidded along the ground, sending up pebbles and blades of grass. They were in the middle of a field, with a metropolitan area and a forest in the distance. Apart from that, all Darjeeling and Kay could see was a field and the horizon of the sea with the sun overlooking it.

"Where are we going?"

"Oh, right!" Rosehip spoke in a moment of shock. "Why don't we ask people in the dorms if they've seen a tank?"

"Why didn't we do that before?" Kay asked, sighing.

"I don't know! Don't question me!" Rosehip snarled. "Okay, let's go back."

Rosehip pressed down on the accelerator and the armoured car began to growl and dart forwards, but she was stopped in her tracks by a loud bang that reverberated throughout the vehicle. Darjeeling looked into the distance; black smoke was rising from the treetops of the forest, dissipating as it ascended skyward.

"What was that?" Darjeeling asked, concern struck in her voice.

The driver's hatch opened, and Rosehip's head hastily popped out of it. "I know that sound better than anyone else! It's the sound of a QF 6-pounder tank gun! In other words, it's the Crusader's gun!" The vehicle accelerated even faster than before, and the girls in the turret grabbed and held onto the turret as the armoured car dashed through the field. Mud and blades of grass clinged onto the thick tyres of the AEC as it rushed through the field and tore it up.

"Someone's going to be angry about that," Kay said, watching the armoured car spit up mud in its wheels and pave a path of destruction.

"Go faster, AEC!" Rosehip shouted frantically, putting the force of an elephant's weight on the accelerator pedal. The engine whined and groaned in response, coughing out exhaust fumes like a chain smoker going through their fifth pack.

"Why didn't we just take a car?" Kay rolled her eyes.

"I have my doubts that one's average Nissan or Mitsubishi could brave this terrain any more than an armoured car built for such environments could," Darjeeling responded.

"You're thinking too much about Japan. Broaden your mind a little," Kay replied, tapping her head.

"But Britain doesn't really do cars anymore…," Darjeeling said dejectedly.

"American. Cars!" Kay retorted.

"...Not really into them." Darjeeling looked to the side awkwardly.

"You need to let go of Britain a bit," soughed Kay. "Think about America, the land of the free. America loves you."

"Prepare for a bumpy ride; we're going into the forest!" announced Rosehip. The AEC began racing through the tall trees, sending leaves skyward. "I'll try not to crash into any trees!"

Darjeeling found herself being caught in the stupor of the beautiful forest; walls of tall trees proudly stood above her, permitting only a little sunlight to break through the gaps between their indomitable trunks. She quickly snapped back to reality when her skull almost kissed the rough bark of a tree.

"Sorry about that!" Rosehip called, swerving past the tree that almost rearranged Darjeeling's face.

"Be more careful!" Kay shouted angrily, grinding her teeth together.

The AEC slowed down, thus the trees in Darjeeling's view returned to normalcy, rather than an amalgamation of blurs that her eyes could just about incognizantly process. The tyres, caked with a thick layer of mud and grass, dug into the ground as Rosehip pulled the brakes on the vehicle.

"Why did you stop?" Darjeeling asked, observing the area around her. Trees were only sparsely sprinkled about in this location, in contrast to the rest of the forest, where driving a fast vehicle at its top speed would prove to be the crew's grim ending.

Not Rosehip's crew, though. She was a good driver. "This is where my darling Crusader was. Take a look around, see if you can spot her," Rosehip said, darting her eyes about like an attentive tigress in search of its prey. Rosehip sunk back into the crew compartment, and then the subtle hum of the AEC's engine gradually faded into nothing.

It was replaced by a louder engine - to which Rosehip leapt upwards (almost hitting her head on the cold steel of the vehicle) and pointed in a random direction. Her brilliant eyes narrowed, as she whispered, "it's over there."

"What?" Kay responded, turning around to face Rosehip's direction. "It's over th-"

"Crusader." Rosehip slipped back into the vehicle and shut the driver's hatch. "Let's go." The AEC shook, and then gained new life, along with the now humming engine. As quickly as it had stopped, the armoured car accelerated at a blistering speed.

The easily recognisable St. Gloriana paint job quickly showed itself in the sun, as did the Crusader light tank that donned it. Almost hidden in a wide collection of bushes surrounded by trees, but not hidden enough - Rosehip's Crusader tank. Its rear poked out of the bushes slightly, and its bright paint job combined with the sunlight drew the girls' undivided attention to it.

"There it is!" Kay yelled.

The Crusader rumbled in the bush; it reversed slightly, revealing its turret, which faced in the direction of the rapidly accelerating AEC. What Rosehip did not expect was for the Crusader to fire its gun, and it took some skill to swerve past it as soon as the bang went off and the smoke started rising. The 57mm shell was hastily and poorly aimed, and missed its mark entirely.

"Did it just fire at us?!" Kay yelled.

"I believe it did," Darjeeling responded calmly.

After launching its assault, the Crusader shot off, leaving a whirlwind of leaves in its wake. The AEC raced after it, smashing the bush into little pieces. Darjeeling got some leaves caught in her hair, and stared incredulously at the vehicle of which they were in pursuit.

Another bang shook Darjeeling and Kay to the cores of their hearts (it gave them a mighty shock); it felt like the shell was coming at Darjeeling in slow motion as it was launched out of the barrel. A brilliant explosion of orange almost capsized the vehicle and sent a lot of dust into the air.

"That one was an HE shell," Rosehip nonchalantly said. "Why don't you fire back? Try to disable the bloody thing, yeah?"

Another shell whizzed by and produced a significant flash that left a lasting impression on Kay and Darjeeling's eyeballs as they craned their necks backwards to watch it.

"Hello?! Shell? Fire!" Rosehip shouted urgently.

"Oh, yes!" Darjeeling responded, slipping inside the turret. "This is loaded, right?"

Kay did the same, hauling up a shell from the nearest rack and loading it into the breach. "Up!"

A few seconds later, the AEC responded with its own shell; it gracefully glided through the air, living a life of blissful ignorance to everything around it, until it dug itself into the Crusader's flat turret. In response, the cruiser tank's tracks seized up, skidding around in the mud and stopping side-on to the AEC.

"Not the turret!" Rosehip ranted. "Either you hit the gun directly or mobility kill it! Avoid unnecessary damage to my baby!"

The Crusader soon spat out another shell, which was meticulously aimed at the AEC's wheels. As such, the armoured car found itself missing a wheel, and the vehicle's hull violently sank into the ground, pasting its entire ground with light brown mud. The wheel gleefully bounced on in the distance, rolling into a tree and falling onto the side.

Inside the vehicle, the girls found themselves turned upside down as the vehicle conducted a self-motivated excavation of the earth. Darjeeling and Kay were mercilessly shook about as the AEC drilled into the ground. The Crusader spied an opportunity, and began to flank the armoured car's rear; the opposing vehicle made its best attempt to continue training its gun on the Crusader, but was struggling.

"This is the only chance you have to take it out! Quick!" Rosehip shouted.

"We're trying!" Kay and Darjeeling responded in unison.

Another shell was planted in the breech, and Darjeeling fired the gun as eagerly and quickly as was possible. The resulting shell was a direct impact on the gun, giving whoever was in the turret an excellent shock. But, that wasn't just it; the gun was then trained down below, another shell was loaded, and then firmly placed in the Crusader's track, breaking the links into a million pieces.

That was victory, and a sweet sense of justice. The assailants in the tank could do nothing now. The driver's hatch swung upwards at a staggering speed (probably breaking the mechanism), and then Rosehip leapt out like a furious bear that had been punched in the nose, audibly slamming her boots on the ground. "Get out! Hands up where I can see them!" she shouted at the disabled tank. "Am I gonna have to go in there myself? You really don't want that, do you?" She rolled up her sleeves ferociously, and jumped onto the side of the Crusader like an athlete.

"Whoever in there is… not going to have a good time," Darjeeling stated, watching the livid girl clamber onto the turret and start pulling at the hatches.

"That's one way of saying it," Kay responded.

"Open. Up!" Rosehip screamed, her bellows echoing out of the great depths of the forest. "If you don't open up this instant, I'll get Darjeeling to call the Special Boat Service on you! And the military police!"

Succeeding Rosehip's outburst was silence, with tension swiftly building in the air around the redhead. That tension instantly ensued as a cataclysmic explosion, and, with froth forming at the mouth, Rosehip lunged forwards, trying to find an opening. As she lay on the engine deck, she heard movement behind her. Escapees!

Two girls made their best attempts to exit the tank, unbeknownst to Rosehip, but they noticed their effort was futile as soon as Rosehip laid her bloodthirsty eyes on them. Instantly, she was on the attack, and that was displayed with her savage expression and swinging arms. The other two girls threw themselves out of the tank, landing not-so-gracefully on the mud and grass, and sprinting like deer running away from a lioness.

Darjeeling's face contorted as her eyes scanned the images of the girls running away from the monster that is Rosehip. "Those girls-" she looked to the Crusader, and then back to the runners, "Pekoe and Rukuriri?" She slumped over, resting her head against the rear of the turret. "Oh, how could my darling Orange Pekoe get roped up in such an illicit operation such as tank stealing?" Her spirit, once indomitable, had been crushed by the undefeatable hammer known as dejection - by proxy, of course.

"Hey, what the hell?" Kay muttered, opening the turret hatch and sliding out of it as Darjeeling muttered meaningless nothings about her failure as an upstanding, moral teacher. "You two, what are you doing?" she sternly yelled. "Hey, Darjeeling, give me a hand here?"

Darjeeling too popped out of the turret hatch. "My voice will stop them." She observed the girls in the distance; Rosehip was catching up on Orange Pekoe, who was lagging behind her brunette friend. "Rukuriri, Orange Pekoe, halt!" she bellowed, with the harshest and most commanding voice that Kay had ever heard come out of the braided blonde.

In response, the two girls instinctively froze, and then, unable to react to their chaser's assault, found Rosehip leaping on top of them and holding them in place with the force of a colossus. "Got you!" she gleefully announced, pressing Rukuriri's face in the mud. With the two girls on the ground, Rosehip grabbed and yanked both of their collars, dragging them through the mud back to Kay and Darjeeling. Their royal blue sweaters made for a nice layer to protect them against the mud - although they would not be blue for long.

Orange Pekoe crossed her arms and stayed silent, internally accepting the situation. She had not thought about the consequences of her actions, but Rukuriri told her it was going to be fine. Clearly, she was wrong.

Rukuriri was more outspoken. "Get the hell off me!" she whined, grappling at Rosehip's vice grip. "You are not authorised to do this!" She shook herself about, but nothing she could do would loosen Rosehip's grip. She continued to drag them across the ground.

"You know, I never liked you, Rukuriri," Rosehip growled, looking back at the girl with pure malice, "but now I dislike you even more. Infiltrating and messing with the command structure was one thing, but now you had to go and steal my tank."

"What if I did? You can barely command anyway, and your driver acts like a headless chicken. I figured I'd be doing you a favour," Rukuriri spat, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, you…! You little sh-"

"Ah, Rosehip! Good job catching the troublemakers," Darjeeling called, watching the three girls draw near. "Though, you did not have to drag them like that."

"I felt it was necessary - especially for this one," Rosehip replied, shooting a finger at Rukuriri.

"Well, well. So girls, how are we meant to plan out this upcoming battle if you two are going around and stealing our tanks?" Darjeeling asked, looking down on the girls on the ground from the AEC.

"It was only the one," Rukuriri responded. "Did it really take you people this long to realise that I- we stole the tank?"

"Only stealing one does not mean it's okay for you to do, Rukuriri," Darjeeling responded. "What do you think about this, Orange Pekoe?"

Orange Pekoe's eyes dimmed and darted around timidly. She began to speak up, but had trouble forming the words. "I… uh… we are very regrettable in our foolish decision to… steal the tank." Her speech was intermingled with awkward pauses.

"How are we going to sort this out?" Kay asked.

"I am not entirely sure myself," Darjeeling responded. "This is probably one of Rukuriri's schemes again. I highly doubt Pekoe had much to do with this; Rukuriri has her wrapped around her ring finger."

"Her ring finger, huh…," Kay pondered out loud.

"Rosehip, lead them over to the AEC. They can sit on top, and we will drive back to the dorms," Darjeeling commanded.

"Come along, you filthy creatures," Rosehip growled, guiding the two girls over to the AEC vehicle.

The ride home was long and fairly awkward. Most of it was spent in total silence; Rukuriri tried her hand at ranting a couple of times, but Darjeeling talked her down. She sat next to Orange Pekoe, rubbing against her in an awkwardly affectionate fashion. Orange Pekoe didn't think anything of it, though Kay and Darjeeling certainly did notice…

"Rukuriri, you're like a cat," Darjeeling had said in reference to Rukuriri rubbing against her, "you should give her some room."

Rukuriri replied without words; rather, she stared daggers at her commander in response.

When they arrived at the dorms, Darjeeling instructed Rukuriri and Orange Pekoe to follow her to her room. "I'd love to watch you chew them out, Commander, but I have matters to attend to," Rosehip had said, taking off in a flash.

Orange Pekoe shuddered a bit as Darjeeling wordlessly opened the door, taking in the sight of her familiar room, just the way she and Kay had left it. Orange Pekoe had not a bad bone in her body, and thus was not used to being reprimanded by a Darjeeling who would inevitably be sterner than usual. Rukuriri, on the other hand, had experienced this quite a bit, and walked into the room like a grizzled war veteran as Darjeeling instructed them in.

"Have a seat on the sofa," Darjeeling said, pointing to it. Orange Pekoe took a seat, innocent pleading eyes focused on Darjeeling, but Rukuriri indignantly stood.

"Wait, why is she coming in here with us?" Rukuriri asked angrily, pointing at Kay as she entered Darjeeling's room. "She isn't even in our school!"

"Don't mind her," Darjeeling responded, waving it away. "She means you no harm, Rukuriri. Besides, I-"

"That's not a proper respons-"

"I do not think you are in a position to make demands, Rukuriri," Darjeeling sternly said. Her words sent a chill down Rukuriri and Orange Pekoe's spines, and established a cold, unforgiving air in the room.

 _I-I don't like it when Darjeeling acts like this!_ Orange Pekoe thought, her eyes dilating, and her brain swelling up with disastrous thoughts.

"Why did you steal the tank?" Darjeeling asked.

"I'm not telling you!" Rukuriri retorted, shaking her head multiple times. She could take off like a helicopter if she kept doing that.

"So, there's obviously a reason, hmm?" Darjeeling replied, smiling. "Why don't we discuss it over some tea? Or, maybe Orange Pekoe could tell me?"

"Ulp!" Orange Pekoe gasped.

"I'll let you off if you tell me why," Darjeeling said.

Rukuriri's eyes shrinked and the whites of her eyes shone as her pupils found themselves fixed on Orange Pekoe. Internally, Rukuriri became a warzone; if Orange Pekoe told her the true reason why, then she would be finished. _Keep yourself calm, Rukuriri_ , she thought, gasping as she realised she had held her breath since Darjeeling spoke. Externally, she calmly stroked her braid, gaining the appearance of a fair maiden who had done no wrong.

"Well… it's… because I told Rukuriri that the Crusader is my favourite tank," Pekoe sheepishly said, looking at the floor in shame.

With that, Rukuriri's world broke in two. Darjeeling giggled as Rukuriri hastily tried to piece herself back together. "Is that so?" Darjeeling asked smugly. "Rukuriri?"

"Huh?!" Rukuriri gasped, her hands covering her face. Her face felt so warm. _This is so embarrassing…!_ thought the girl. "Maybe…," she muttered.

"Well, you know not to do it again, okay?" Darjeeling said firmly. "I will let you two off this time, but next time-"

"Yes, I know!" Rukuriri yelled. "I get it!"

"Then you are free to go," Darjeeling responded. "It would be foolish for me to punish you, anyway; that would not help us in our upcoming battle. Speaking of which, we will be discussing it very soon."

Rukuriri nodded and silently but swiftly made her way to the door, opening it and exiting the room. Orange Pekoe got up off the sofa and followed her, without even a single word being uttered.

"That's weird," Kay said, who had spectated the scene. "They didn't even say anything."

"Orange Pekoe seems to be wired into following Rukuriri now," Darjeeling responded.

"Yep. Now what?" Kay asked.

Darjeeling took off her blue jumper and undid her tie, throwing it on the floor. "I could do with a rest." She yawned loudly, stretching her arms.

"Isn't that how this whole thing started?"

"Huh?"

"Well, we got woken up rudely when we fell asleep together."

"You're right," Darjeeling responded, rubbing her chin with her finger. "But still, I'm willing to take the rest," she continued, and then she collapsed onto the sofa, swiftly falling into a deep sleep.

"Eh?!" Kay sighed, standing over the sofa and Darjeeling. "How did she fall asleep so fast?" She centred her attention on the Gloriana girl's rising and falling chest. _She's so cute when she sleeps_ , she thought.

Then, there was a knock at the door. "Well, it's good that I'm not asleep for this, otherwise this chapter of our life would have been too similar to the last one," Kay muttered. As she stared at the door, with which every knock grew louder, she wondered what waited in store for the duo next.

 _Not the greatest ending, but I had to stop it somewhere. Next chapter will probably come in six months or whenever; I have no clue. But anyway, thank you for reading._


End file.
